Back

Documentary

Daro Sulakauri

Photographer

Daro Sulakauri

Double Aliens

Samtske-Javakheti region – a mountain plateau in the south of Georgia, which borders with Armenia and Turkey. There are many Georgians, who have never been there, even living right next to it. Just a few years ago it took nine hours to drive from the capital city Tbilisi to Akhalkalaki – region’s economic and administrative center – despite the fact, that it is just 200 km away. Mostly because of terrible road conditions. Being disconnected from the rest of the country, this region has had to struggle continuously with high unemployment, lack of industry and,
most importantly, low self-esteem of its inhabitants. Physical isolation only adds to the fact that historically Samtske-Javakheti has Armenian ethnic majority. There are very few villages that you will find Georgians and Armenians living together and even there they live separate lives. On the other hand, Georgian minority is looking for a greater influence in the region, because they fear the repetition of a
historical pattern when two other minorities, dwelling in the territory of Georgia – Abkhazs and Ossetians – declared their own autonomous states by armed force with backing from Russia. Georgians of Samtske-Javakheti are willing to take their stand
causing the Armenians to claim that they are treated as second-class citizens and heavily oppressed.

Daro Sulakauri

Daro Sulakauri is a Georgian photojournalist based in Tbilisi. Her work chronicles the social and political issues in Caucasus. She Graduated from the ICP in 2006, where she was awarded the John and Mary Phillips Scholarship and ICP Director's Fund for her work on anti-war movement in New York.  Upon completing her studies, she returned to the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia to document a hidden narrative of the Chechen conflict in an outpost of refugees. The project won second place in the Magnum Foundation's Young Photographer in the Caucasus award in 2009. Sulakauri was also awarded first prize for her story on Early Marriages by LensCulture, EU prize for journalism and Human Right House in London.
She was included in a list of 30 under 30 Women Photographers and Photo District News' 30 emerging photographers to watch. She is a participant of World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass 2017 and 2018 Reuters Photojournalism grantee. As of 2018, Sulakauri is a official Canon Ambassador.  Her work can be seen in publications such as The New York Times, National Geographic, der Spiegel, Forbes Magazine, Reporters without borders, GEO Magazine and other.