The world has become my country. I travel around it as a photographer and witness the way it drifts between war and peace. My home base is Paris, but I bear witness to the wounds of our humanity as a whole. Since 1987, when I first went to Baku, I have visited Azerbaijan several times as a photojournalist.
I’ve covered the decisive, tragic moments in the history of the country for the international media, including Black January in 1990, the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the massacre in Azerbaijani town of Khojaly in 1992. A few years later, while on an assignment for the National Geographic Magazine, I spent some time investigating the troubled lives of refugees and displaced persons, among other topics.
I have often returned to Azerbaijan as an observer and witness of a country undergoing rapid change. In every village, town, and city I traveled through, I noticed the presence of a place of remembrance, often to mark the memory of a tragedy. In The Massacre of Innocents, I wanted to pay tribute to these women and men, all powerless victims of the geopolitical chessboard.
I’ve covered the decisive, tragic moments in the history of the country for the international media, including Black January in 1990, the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the massacre in Azerbaijani town of Khojaly in 1992. A few years later, while on an assignment for the National Geographic Magazine, I spent some time investigating the troubled lives of refugees and displaced persons, among other topics.
I have often returned to Azerbaijan as an observer and witness of a country undergoing rapid change. In every village, town, and city I traveled through, I noticed the presence of a place of remembrance, often to mark the memory of a tragedy. In The Massacre of Innocents, I wanted to pay tribute to these women and men, all powerless victims of the geopolitical chessboard.
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- Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Aghdam, February 1992 After the Khojaly massacre, the International Red Cross organized a cease-fire to enable the Red Cross to return the corpses of Azerbaijanis killed. The 2,500 remaining inhabitants (23,757 before the war) found themselves without electricity, heating oil, water, or food and thus sought the safe passage they were promised. Instead, Armenian armed forces and members of the 366 Soviet infantry regiment were waiting to gun them down.As a result of this massacre 613 people were killed, 487 were severely. Those who escaped the gunfire only wounded had to trek through the mountains to safety ñ many perished in the cold. 1275 people were taken hostage. Those who survived would visit the mosque of Aghdam, used as a morgue. Each day they wandered among corpses, brought by the Red Cross, wrapped in body bags, discovering the horrors perpetrated by the Armenian soldiers.The woman standing among the men just identified the bodies of her relatives. Azerbaidjan, Karabakh, Aghdam, Fevrier 1992 Apres le massacre de Khodjali, la Croix-Rouge internationale organise un cessez-le-feu pour rapatrier les corps des Azerbaidjanais morts. Les 2500 habitants restant (23 757 avant la guerre) se retrouvent sans electricite, mazout pour le chauffage, eau ou nourriture, et cherchent le passage securise promis. Mais les forces armees armeniennes et membres du 366e regiment d’infanterie sovietique attendent en contrebas, armes a la main. 613 personnes sont tuees, dont 487 gravement mutiles. Ceux qui en rechappent traversent les montagnes a pieds, beaucoup meurent de leurs blessures ou du froid. 1 275 personnes sont prises en otage. Ceux qui ont survecu visitent la mosquee d’Aghdam, utilisee comme morgue. Chaque jour, la Croix-Rouge denombre plus de corps. Les survivants errent parmi les cadavres dans des sacs mortuaires. Leurs visages trahissent les horreurs perpetrees par les soldats armeniens.La femme entouree d’hommes vient d’identifier ses parent
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- Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Aghdam, February 1992 After the Khojaly massacre, the International Red Cross organized a cease-fire to enable the Red Cross to return the corpses of Azerbaijanis killed. The 2,500 remaining inhabitants (23,757 before the war) found themselves without electricity, heating oil, water, or food and thus sought the safe passage they were promised. Instead, Armenian armed forces and members of the 366 Soviet infantry regiment were waiting to gun them down.As a result of this massacre 613 people were killed, 487 were severely. Those who escaped the gunfire only wounded had to trek through the mountains to safety ñ many perished in the cold. 1275 people were taken hostage. Those who survived would visit the mosque of Aghdam, used as a morgue. A survivor of the massacre grasps onto a photograph of his missing son, asking the other families if they have seen him. Azerbaidjan, Karabakh, Aghdam, Fevrier 1992 Apres le massacre de Khodjali, la Croix-Rouge internationale organise un cessez-le-feu pour rapatrier les corps des Azerbaidjanais morts. Les 2500 habitants restant (23 757 avant la guerre) se retrouvent sans electricite, mazout pour le chauffage, eau ou nourriture, et cherchent le passage securise promis. Mais les forces armees armeniennes et membres du 366e regiment d’infanterie sovietique attendent en contrebas, armes a la main. 613 personnes sont tuees, dont 487 gravement mutiles. Ceux qui en rechappent traversent les montagnes a pieds, beaucoup meurent de leurs blessures ou du froid. 1 275 personnes sont prises en otage. Ceux qui ont survecu visitent la mosquee d’Aghdam, utilisee comme morgue. Ayant survecu au massacre, il tient une photographie de son fils disparu, demandant a d’autres familles si elles l’ont vu.
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- Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Aghdam, February 1992 After the Khojaly massacre, the International Red Cross organized a cease-fire to enable the Red Cross to return the corpses of Azerbaijanis killed. The 2,500 remaining inhabitants (23,757 before the war) found themselves without electricity, heating oil, water, or food and thus sought the safe passage they were promised. Instead, Armenian armed forces and members of the 366 Soviet infantry regiment were waiting to gun them down.As a result of this massacre 613 people were killed, 487 were severely. Those who escaped the gunfire only wounded had to trek through the mountains to safety ñ many perished in the cold. 1275 people were taken hostage. Those who survived would visit the mosque of Aghdam, used as a morgue. A man waits outside the morgue for the body of his dead relative. He has prepared the coffin and white shroud (Kafan) to wrap the body in accordance with Muslim burial rituals. Azerbaidjan, Karabakh, Aghdam, Fevrier 1992 Apres le massacre de Khodjali, la Croix-Rouge internationale organise un cessez-le-feu pour rapatrier les corps des Azerbaidjanais morts. Les 2500 habitants restant (23 757 avant la guerre) se retrouvent sans electricite, mazout pour le chauffage, eau ou nourriture, et cherchent le passage securise promis. Mais les forces armees armeniennes et membres du 366e regiment d’infanterie sovietique attendent en contrebas, armes a la main. 613 personnes sont tuees, dont 487 gravement mutiles. Ceux qui en rechappent traversent les montagnes a pieds, beaucoup meurent de leurs blessures ou du froid. 1 275 personnes sont prises en otage. Ceux qui ont survecu visitent la mosquee d’Aghdam, utilisee comme morgue. Un homme attend le corps de son parent decede a l’exterieur de la morgue. Il a prepare le cercueil et le linceul blanc (Kafan) pour l’envelopper selon les rites funeraires musulmans.
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- Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Aghdam, February 1992 After the Khojaly massacre, the International Red Cross organized a cease-fire to enable the Red Cross to return the corpses of Azerbaijanis killed. The 2,500 remaining inhabitants (23,757 before the war) found themselves without electricity, heating oil, water, or food and thus sought the safe passage they were promised. Instead, Armenian armed forces and members of the 366 Soviet infantry regiment were waiting to gun them down.As a result of this massacre 613 people were killed, 487 were severely. Those who escaped the gunfire only wounded had to trek through the mountains to safety ñ many perished in the cold. 1275 people were taken hostage. Those who survived would visit the mosque of Aghdam, used as a morgue, to search for their disappeared loved ones. They wandered among dozens of corpses, brought by the Red Cross, wrapped in body bags. A survivor mourns, she waits to prepare her relatives bodies for burial in accordance with Muslim tradition. Azerbaidjan, Karabakh, Aghdam, Fevrier 1992 Apres le massacre de Khodjali, la Croix-Rouge internationale organise un cessez-le-feu pour rapatrier les corps des Azerbaidjanais morts. Les 2500 habitants restant (23 757 avant la guerre) se retrouvent sans electricite, mazout pour le chauffage, eau ou nourriture, et cherchent le passage securise promis. Mais les forces armees armeniennes et membres du 366e regiment d’infanterie sovietique attendent en contrebas, armes a la main. 613 personnes sont tuees, dont 487 gravement mutiles. Ceux qui en rechappent traversent les montagnes a pieds, beaucoup meurent de leurs blessures ou du froid. 1 275 personnes sont prises en otage. Ceux qui ont survecu visitent la mosquee d’Aghdam, utilisee comme morgue, cherchant leurs proches disparus. Ils errent parmi les dizaines de cadavres enveloppes dans des sacs mortuaires portees par la Croix-Rouge. Une survivante pleure avant de preparer les corps de ses parents selon la tradition musulmane.
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- Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Southern Village, February 1992 In a southern village of the Karabakh, a makeshift hospital was set up in a school to tend to all of the wounded Azerbaijanis.A man supports his wounded brother who was shot in the head by an Armenian sniper. Many people were shot directly in the head by professional snipers, many of whom come from other countries to fight in the Karabakh. Azerbaidjan, Karabakh, Village du sud, Fevrier 1992 Dans un village du sud du Karabakh, un hopital de fortune est improvise dans l’ecole pour s’occuper des Azerbaidjanais blesses. Un homme soutient son ami qui vient tout juste de decouvrir le corps de son frere, blesse a la tete par un sniper armenien. Un grand nombre de personnes sont abbatues directement dans la tete par des snipers professionnels, dont beaucoup sont venus d’autres pays pour combattre dans le Karabakh.
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- Azerbaijan, Road between Khojaly (Xocali) and Aghdam, March 1992 After the Khojaly massacre, the International Red Cross organized a local cease-fire to allow both sides to exchange prisoners and to enable the Red Cross to return the corpses of Azerbaijanis killed in Khojaly to the people who survived the massacre and took refuge in the neighboring town of Aghdam.Azerbaijani prisoners, who were held by Armenians, wait to be reunited with their families. Azerbaidjan, Route entre Khodjali (Xocali) et Aghdam, Mars 1992 Apres le massacre de Khodjali, la Croix-Rouge internationale a organise un cessez-le-feu local pour permettre a la Croix Rouge de rendre les corps des Azerbaidjanais morts a Khodjali a ceux qui ont survecu au massacre et qui ont trouve refuge dans la ville voisine díAghdam.Des prisonniers Azerbaidjanais detenus par les armeniens attendent d’etre reunis avec leurs familles.
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- Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Aghdam, February 1992 After the Khojaly massacre, the International Red Cross organized a cease-fire to enable the Red Cross to return the corpses of Azerbaijanis killed. The 2,500 remaining inhabitants (23,757 before the war) found themselves without electricity, heating oil, water, or food and thus sought the safe passage they were promised. Instead, Armenian armed forces and members of the 366 Soviet infantry regiment were waiting to gun them down.As a result of this massacre 613 people were killed, 487 were severely. Those who escaped the gunfire only wounded had to trek through the mountains to safety ñ many perished in the cold. 1275 people were taken hostage. Those who survived would visit the mosque of Aghdam, used as a morgue, to search for their disappeared loved ones. Each day, the Red Cross brought more bodies. The survivors wandered among dozens of corpses wrapped in body bags, discovering the horrors perpetrated by the Armenian soldiers. Azerbaidjan, Karabakh, Aghdam, Fevrier 1992 Apres le massacre de Khodjali, la Croix-Rouge internationale organise un cessez-le-feu pour rapatrier les corps des Azerbaidjanais morts. Les 2500 habitants restant (23 757 avant la guerre) se retrouvent sans electricite, mazout pour le chauffage, eau ou nourriture, et cherchent le passage securise promis. Mais les forces armees armeniennes et membres du 366e regiment d’infanterie sovietique attendent en contrebas, armes a la main. 613 personnes sont tuees, dont 487 gravement mutiles. Ceux qui en rechappent traversent les montagnes a pieds, beaucoup meurent de leurs blessures ou du froid. 1 275 personnes sont prises en otage. Ceux qui ont survecu visitent la mosquee d’Aghdam, utilisee comme morgue, cherchant leurs proches disparus. Chaque jour, la Croix-Rouge denombre plus de corps. Les survivants errent parmi les dizaines de cadavres dans des sacs mortuaires. Leurs visages trahissent les horreurs perpetrees par les soldats armeniens.
