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30 Combined Photos By This Digital Artist That Remind Us Of The Two Different Worlds That People Live In
Interview With Artist
Uğur Gallenkuş is a world-known digital artist based in Istanbul, Turkey. He gained his popularity with thought-provoking photo collages conscientiously addressing the "widening global divide between the privileged and oppressed, weaving together misery and mirth, wealth and poverty and love and despair".
"I aim to showcase the significant social issues our world is facing, such as injustice, war, climate change, etc., by juxtaposing two pictures side-by-side within a single frame. Through these photography artworks, I strive to illustrate the contrasts between the two different worlds we live in and prompt reflection on making decisions that will minimize these problems by fostering empathy," the artist previously wrote on Bored Panda.
We've collected the newest work by Gallenkuş, so scroll down to see his latest creations.
More info: Instagram | ugurgallenkus.com | Facebook | twitter.com | tiktok.com
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Photo by Mehmet Aslan
"This little boy’s father Munzir lost his right leg when a bomb was dropped as he walked through a bazaar in Idlib, Syria. His son Mustafa was born without lower or upper limbs due to tetra-amelia, a congenital disorder caused by the medications his mother Zeynep had to take after being sickened by nerve gas released during the war in Syria."
Bored Panda reached out to Uğur Gallenkuş to learn more about him and his creative process. We were curious to know what sparked his journey as a digital artist. "I used to make photomontages and memes of popular culture as a hobby," Gallenkuş shared. "The event that prompted me to focus on more pressing matters was the photograph of a refugee named Alan Kurdi, who drowned in 2015. That photograph of him mobilized the international community and states to address the challenges that refugees experienced at that time. Many organizations have been working to prevent drowning incidents in the Mediterranean and continue to do so. Many countries offered asylum to refugees, etc. So, what led to this response? The answer is simple. We empathized with that photo of baby Alan. This empathy we have developed has moved us to action."
Photo by Adem Altan
"Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak, who died in the earthquake in Kahramanmaras, close to the quake's epicentre, the day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Turkey's southeast, on February 7, 2023."
What does one say to something like this?! I cannot fathom his pain. Or how scared she must have been. These photos weigh so heavily on my heart.
Photo by Andrew Quilty
"Rabia poses in the International Committee of the Red Cross’s orthopedic center in Jalalabad, Afghanistan on August 26, 2018, her first day wearing a prosthetic. Asked if she could stand without crutches, Rabia let them fall to the ground."
Uğur Gallenkuş stands out for his powerful photo collages that possess the unique ability to shed light on pressing social issues in our world. We asked the artist what inspired him to create such impactful works. Gallenkuş pointed out that, unfortunately, many people tend to overlook the issues depicted in those photos. He explained, "These are photographs of distressing events we often see in the news, events that others have endured. The awareness sparked by Alan Kurd's photograph changed my perspective on these images that reveal the world's problems. It made me view them differently. I believe that if we can empathize with these problems, our interest in addressing them will increase, and we can take action to minimize their impact. With this belief in mind, I started combining photographs taken by various photographers with scenes, objects, events, or individuals from our daily lives, separated by a sharp contrast."
Photo by Jerome Delay
"In this Friday, March 31, 2017 photo, Vickie, 4, holds a hairbrush in her mouth as she walks in the Kuluba, Uganda, transit camp."
Photo by Wissam Nassar
"Noha Abu Mesleh, 5 years old, is seen inside of her home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.There have 8 refugee camps in Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is home to a population of approximately 1.9 million people, including some 1.4 million Palestine refugees."
The artist shared that his work employs a very simple technique. "You place two different photos side by side and separate them with a sharp line. However, as simple as it may sound, it can be quite challenging. Finding suitable photos takes time, and I often have to scan through archives. The first step in my work is to locate the photograph that addresses the particular problem I want to draw attention to. These issues can range from war conflicts, refugees, and child-women-animal rights to environmental problems and income inequality. Once I have the main photo, I begin the process of finding the image that will create awareness in contrast to it. This search can sometimes be quick, taking only a few minutes, but other times, it may require hours, days, or even weeks."
Photo by Allison Joyce
"12 year old Kurshida holds her drawing at a CODEC and UNICEF "child friendly space" on September 21, 2017 in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Kurshida fled to Bangladesh from Bourashidapara village in Myanmar almost a month ago. Her drawing depicts a scene that she witnessed while fleeing her village; the military shooting everywhere, lighting her home on fire, the military cutting her niece's throat with a machete while she slept, her newborn sister being shot, a helicopter dropping bombs, and her neighbors being shot while they tried to flee."
I saw a documentary where they interviewed retired soldiers from WWII. Many said they’d committed atrocities like those above, but now could not fathom how they could have done so. It’s both fascinating and terrifying what happens to people in wartime, especially soldiers.
Photo by Necati Savaş
"A man holds the body of his daughter who died in the earthquake, after her body was retrieved from a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, southeastern Turkiye, 07 February 2023."
When it comes to future plans, Gallenkuş aims to make his work reach beyond social media and touch more people. That's why he published his first book "Parallel Universes of Children", intending to draw attention to children's rights. Currently, he is working on a second book. Additionally, his works are exhibited in many countries and cities. Gallenkuş actively engages in social media and exhibition projects with organizations like the WHO Foundation and Doctors Without Borders to bring attention to various issues.
Photo by Ivan Valencia
"A guacamaya rescued from illegal traffickers rests in a wildlife rehabilitation center in Colombia. A merchant had cut the bird’s beak so it could not defend itself."
Photo by Justin Hofman
"A small estuary seahorse, Hippocampus kuda, drifts in the polluted waters near Sumbawa Besar, Sumbara Island, Indonesia in 2016."
Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff
"Children stand on a beach wrapped in emergency blankets shortly after arriving with other migrants and refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on October 14, 2015."
Photo by Ammar Sulaiman
"Smoke billows following a reported air strike by Syrian government forces in the rebel-held parts of the Jobar district, on the eastern outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, on August 9, 2017."
Photo by John Moore
"Haitian immigrants cross the Rio Grande back into Mexico from Del Rio, Texas on September 20, 2021 to Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. As U.S. immigration authorities began deporting immigrants back to Haiti from Del Rio, thousands more waited in a camp under an international bridge in Del Rio and others crossed the river back into Mexico to avoid deportation."
Photo by Léo Malafaia
"A boy walks out of the sea while removing oil spilled on Itapuama beach located in the city of Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Pernambuco state, Brazil, on October 21, 2019."
When will the mass water polluters realise all the water is connected? And that you can’t drink currency?
Photo by Alessandro Penso
"Youssef, an 11-year-old from Syria, works in a textiles factory in Gaziantep, Turkey, on April 25, 2017. He is the eldest of five children; he starts work at 8 a.m. and leaves at 7 p.m., earning around $150 a month."
Photo by Alexis Huguet
Collaboration between Uğur Gallenkuş and Doctors Without Borders (#MSF)
"In northeastern of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Ituri province, new spikes in violence forced more than 1 million people to flee their villages in December 2017. Today, hundreds of thousands of displaced people are staying with host families or in informal settlements that are not secure, like Rhoe camp."
My friend Christian is from Congo I’m glad he’s not living like this
Photo by Anna Surinyach
Collaboration between Uğur Gallenkuş and Doctors Without Borders (#MSF)
"Three women bring water to an IDP camp in Melut, South Sudan in 2014. In this region where fighting continues, access to #water is a daily challenge. Safe water supply and proper wastewater treatment protect people from waterborne diseases like #cholera. In the health facilities where we work, we ensure hygiene and good supply practices."
Photo by Ahmad Jarrah
"Flames seen from the forest fires a region called Chapada dos Veadeiros, in the city of Goiás, a few kilometers from the federal capital Brasília in Brazil in September, 2021."
Photo by Frederick Dharshie Wissah
"A young boy is drinking dirty water due to a lack of water points in Kakamega in Kenya on March 14, 2018, which has occurred due to deforestation."
Photo by Wissam Nassar
"Children from the Al Atawna family are sit amid the rubble of their destroyed house which was damaged during last war of 2014, in the Al-Shejaeiya neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City, Gaza Strip."
Photo by Paul Hilton
"A young elephant walks outside a veterinary outpost run by the veterinary society for Sumatran wildlife conservation – an Indonesian organization that provides services to captive elephants kept in government-run elephant training centers. This elephant is being rehabilitated after its mother was poisoned on a palm oil plantation in the Leuser ecosystem."
Photo by Yasin Akgül
"A Syrian schoolgirl crossing through a damaged wall outside her school in the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab on March 25, 2015."
Photo by Carolina Rapezzi
"Rashida is a water merchant, selling water mainly in the burning areas in Accra, Ghana in 2018."
Photo by Amer Almohibany
"A Syrian government forces' a fighter-bomber drops a payload during a reported air strike in the rebel-held area of Qabun, east of the capital Damascus, on May 6, 2017."
Photo by Hugues Robert
Collaboration between Uğur Gallenkuş and Doctors Without Borders (#MSF)
"A staff member getting dressed in full personal protection at the Ebola treatment center in Bikoro, Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018."
Photo by Aleksey Filippov/AFP via Getty Images
Collaboration between Uğur Gallenkuş and WHO Foundation (#WHOFoundation)
"A patient stands in a hospital destroyed as a result of shelling between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on July 19, 2015."
Photo by Luca Sola
Collaboration between Uğur Gallenkuş and Doctors Without Borders (#MSF)
"In 2015, In the aftermath of the floods in Nsanje district, the southern region of Malawi, 7-year-old Alesi Phiri walks through a field looking at the thick layer of dried mud covering it."
Photo by Noorullah Shirzada
"Afghan children work at a coal yard on the outskirts of Jalalabad on April 28, 2018."
Photo by Allison Joyce
"Hands of refugees stretch out as they scramble for donations in the Balukhali camp on September 18, 2017 in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh."
Photo by Richard Heathcote
"Players of the USA lift the Women's World Cup Trophy following the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France Final match between The United States of America and The Netherlands at Stade de Lyon on July 07, 2019 in Lyon, France."
Photo courtesy of US National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office
"The 11-megaton ROMEO Event was part of Operation Castle. It was detonated from a barge near Bikini atoll on 26 March 1954."
Photo by Patryk Jaracz
"On July 27, 2022, A Grad Rocket launcher operated by Ukrainian defence forces on wheat fields near city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine which Russian army keeps trying to capture until this day.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian exports of grain have been severely disrupted. For over four months, Russian military vessels have been blocking Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.
On 22 July 2022, an agreement was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to open a safe maritime humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea (the Black Sea Grain Initiative). Since then, over 500 ships full of grain and other foodstuffs have left three Ukrainian ports: Chornomorsk, Odesa and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi.
While unblocking the sea export route has helped to address the global food security crisis and lower grain prices, the export backlogs remain significant. via the European Council
In 2020, Ukraine exported $4.61B in Wheat, making it the 5th largest exporter of Wheat in the world. At the same year, Wheat was the 3rd most exported product in Ukraine. The main destination of Wheat exports from Ukraine are: Egypt ($1.22B), Indonesia ($544M), Pakistan ($496M), Bangladesh ($295M), and Lebanon ($239M). via OEC - The Observatory of Economic Complexity"
Note: this post originally had 47 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
It sounds like you're bitter that the "West" isn't solving problems that aren't theirs to solve. Maybe the west has their own problems to solve?
Load More Replies... It sounds like you're bitter that the "West" isn't solving problems that aren't theirs to solve. Maybe the west has their own problems to solve?
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