- Bikem Ekberzade
Bikem Ekberzade (born in
Istanbul ,Turkey , 1971) is a Turkishjournalist ,photojournalist and documentary photographer.Biography and work
After having completed her high school education in Istanbul she went to the
United States where she received a bachelor’s degree in Management fromBoston University . During her studies she has worked with development projects for NGOs such asOXFAM America and has worked on 2 summits for theWorld Economic Forum . In 1992 she has completed her internship inLondon with John F. Chown & Associates, specializing in privatization in post-communist economies. Upon graduation she continued to work with OXFAM America, first on development and implementation of fundraising projects, and later as part of the production team at the Video Unit where her team has completed several educational video documentaries on sustainable development and women’s empowerment in third world countries.In 1995 Ekberzade went back to Boston University, this time to complete her master’s degree at the College of Communications in the field of
Broadcast Journalism . She worked forCNN Financial News (CNNfn) inNew York City as an intern during her master’s program, and was later hired by CNN Southeast Bureau inAtlanta as a production assistant to help out with1996 Atlanta Olympics . Her post was later extended toCNN International assignment desk.Aside from CNN, during her graduate studies and up until 1998 Ekberzade has worked as a photojournalist for print and
wire service s such as theBoston Phoenix , theAssociated Press ,The New York Times , andNewsweek .Among Ekberzade’s early documentary work includes a 22 minute video documentary which talks about the glamorous stage life of 3
drag queen s, rightfully titled DRAG (aBoston Medcalf Awards Nominee.)At the onstart of the Kosovo crisis Ekberzade moved back to Turkey to work as a freelance photographer covering the refugee flow and military maneuvers at the
Albania -Kosovo -Macedonia triangle. She later shifted focus to other regions of conflict such asAfrica ,Central Asia ,the Middle East andEurope . Aside from photographing wars and humanitarian crises Ekberzade also reported on them.Ekberzade is also the curator of a documentary photography project called [http://www.geocities.com/the_refugee_project/ The Refugee Project] which starts off with the war in the
Balkans in 1998 and later expands on to document the lives ofIDP s inAzerbaijan as well as therefugee crisis betweenPakistan andAfghanistan . Further additions to the project has been an extensive documentary of illegal refugees living inIstanbul , and therefugee families fromDarfur ,Sudan , seeking protection in camps in EasternChad .Photograph s fromThe Refugee Project has been published widely inEurope ,United States andTurkey , as well as the body of work being invited to several exhibits at home and overseas. Several prints have been accepted to the permanent collection ofKansas University and the Oxford Museum. In March 2006ILLEGAL , a book of photographs by Bikem Ekberzade, documenting the lives of two youngAfrican women, single mothers and illegal refugees trying to survive inIstanbul , has come out from [http://www.planb.com.tr PlanB publishing] .Ekberzade’s editorial work continue to be published in various print and on-line services including the
New York Times ,Newsweek ,Businessweek ,Christian Science Monitor , NTV-MSNBC,Times Picayune , andDoubleTake Magazine. She has also contributed to several books such as the Danish version of The Mantle of the Prophet byRoy Mottahedeh and theBTC compendium.In May 2002, Ekberzade was selected the photographer of the month by
EPN World Reporter.In June 2004, she was presented an award for her documentary work on refugees by
UNHCR .Ekberzade is also the founder of a civil grassroots initiative called [http://www.kadinlaricin.org/eng.html For Women, By Women] ( [http://www.kadinlaricin.org Kadinlar Icin, Kadinlar Tarafindan] ) which has brought several hundred Turkish female photographers together to make a stance on violence against women. The initiative is aimed at raising funds, through sales of photographs, for agencies and foundations whose aim is to fight violence against women. Since its start in March 2005, two
NGO s have already benefited from the funds raised by the project.Currently residing in
Istanbul , Ekberzade continues to work as a freelancephotojournalist and documentary photographer. Her latest project is an extension of [http://www.geocities.com/the_refugee_project/ The Refugee Project] , almost a continuation ofILLEGAL , a feature length documentary aboutrefugees inTurkey . The documentary aims to focus primarily on individual stories and through them have the existing legislations in Turkey regarding refugees discussed by officials.External links
* [http://www.thevirtualstory.com The Virtual Story]
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