40+ International Awards
Senior Director of Cultural Heritage & Documentary Fellowships
Dohuk / Erbil · Kurdistan Region
Internationally acclaimed and decorated documentary photographer, laureate of the prestigious UNICEF Photo of the Year, and dedicated director safeguarding the visual memory and profound narratives of resilience across Kurdistan and the broader Middle East.
40+
Global Photo Prizes
1st
IPA USA War & Conflict
UN
Exhibited at UN & US Congress
1968
Born in Dohuk
Younes Mohammad (born Dohuk, 1968) is a Kurdish-Iraqi documentary photographer whose work chronicles human dignity amidst conflict, displacement, and cultural resilience. In 2021, he was awarded 1st Place at the International Photography Awards (IPA, USA) in Editorial/Press — War & Conflict, and 3rd Place in the UNICEF Photo of the Year.
His monumental photographic essays have been exhibited at the United States Congress in Washington D.C., the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and major European cultural institutes. As the founder of the Wena Foundation for Kurdish Documentary Photography, Younes directs EVE's Heritage & Fellowship initiatives.
Through EVE, he trains emerging documentarians across Kurdistan and ensures photographers retain their intellectual property while building an open-access visual archive of Mesopotamia.
1968
Born in Dohuk
Raised in the mountains of Kurdistan, witnessing pivotal historical transitions across Northern Iraq.
2014-2017
Mosul Offensive Documentation
Imbedded with frontline units and civilian corridors, producing an exhaustive visual record of the liberation of Nineveh.
2020
Paris Photo Prize Gold Medal
Received highest distinction at PX3 (Prix de la Photographie Paris) for post-conflict recovery essays.
2021
IPA USA & UNICEF Honors
Awarded 1st Place in War & Conflict (IPA USA) and 3rd Place in UNICEF Photo of the Year.
2022
US Congress & UN Exhibitions
Showcased historic series 'Open Wounds' on Capitol Hill and at UN Headquarters in New York.
2023-2026
Wena Foundation & EVE Fellowship
Founded Wena Foundation in Erbil and directs EVE's trilingual cultural heritage photographic archive.
2021 · International Photography Awards (IPA, USA)
1st Place · Editorial / Press: War & Conflict
Seminal coverage of civilian displacement and Peshmerga offensives in Nineveh.
2021 · UNICEF Germany
3rd Prize · Photo of the Year
Honored for moving visual essay on children enduring post-war trauma.
2020 · Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3)
Gold Medal · Press Feature
Recognized for long-term chronicle of Mesopotamian refugee rehabilitation.
2022 · Siena International Photo Awards (Italy)
Remarkable Artwork Award
Awarded for exceptional visual composition under extreme field conditions.
Exhibition & Book
Open Wounds: A Post-War Chronicle
Landmark photographic survey exhibited in New York, Washington D.C., and Geneva.
Education & Archive
EVE Heritage Documentation Fellowship
Directing 60 trilingual photo-essays pairing senior photographers with emerging fellows.
Non-Profit Initiative
Wena Foundation Cultural Registry
Established Kurdistan's first dedicated non-profit photographic preservation archive.
“Every photograph we lose to neglect is a photograph a future Iraqi historian will never have.”
“The camera is not an instrument of spectacle; it is an oath of memory against oblivion.”
“War destroys stones in seconds; documentary photography preserves human dignity for centuries.”
