American Photography 33 Winners

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Jake Naughton

The curse of oil in Iraqi Kurdistan

Ahmed Qussai, 42, poses for a portrait with his children in their home at Debaga IDP camp not far from Mosul, in Iraq. The curse of oil in Iraqi Kurdistan. January 2017. A region once held up by the US as a beacon of hope in a broken Iraq, Kurdistan has instead — in oil’s name — fallen victim to corruption and war. And so the vision of a hopeful future was revealed for what it was all along: a pipe dream.
Jake Naughton

The curse of oil in Iraqi Kurdistan

Fouad Hussein, a member of the regional council's oil and gas committee in Kirkuk, Iraq, poses for a portrait in his office. The curse of oil in Iraqi Kurdistan. January 2017. A region once held up by the US as a beacon of hope in a broken Iraq, Kurdistan has instead — in oil’s name — fallen victim to corruption and war. And so the vision of a hopeful future was revealed for what it was all along: a pipe dream.