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GOODBYE MY CHECHNYA by Diana Markosian

Diana Markosian opening at The Half King on September 11, 2012 7:30 PM

After nearly two decades of war and seventy years of Soviet rule, during which religious participation was banned, Chechnya is going through Islamic revival. Where alcohol is all but banned, polygamy encouraged, and single-sex salons and gyms becoming the norm, Chechen girls have very few rights and the most innocent acts could mean breaking the rules. A couple holding hands in public is punishable; the sight of a Chechen girl smoking may lead to her arrest; and rumors of girls having sex before marriage can result in her killing. With this set of images I hope to reveal a more intimate perspective on the personal lives and choices of young girls who are grappling with questions of identity as they come of age in a republic that is rapidly redefining itself as a Muslim state.

Diana Markosian is a documentary photographer whose interest in the aftermath of war has taken her from the remote mountains Dagestan, to the ancient Silk Road in Tajikistan and overland to the perilous landscape of Afghanistan. Originally from Moscow, Russia, she immigrated to the United States as a child. Markosian holds a masters degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

For more info visit The Half King photography series.

The Half King

505 W 23rd St.
New York, NY 10011