Rena
Effendi was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and grew up in the USSR, witnessing her
country’s path to independence—one marred by war, political instability, and
economic collapse. From the outset, Effendi focused her photography on issues
of conflict, social justice, and the oil industry’s effect on people and the
environment. From 2002 to 2008, Effendi followed a 1,700-kilometer pipeline
through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey documenting the impact this
multibillion-dollar project had on impoverished farmers, fishermen, and other
citizens. This six-year journey became her first book Pipe
Dreams: A Chronicle of Lives Along the Pipeline, published in 2009.
The project received numerous awards, including a Getty Images Editorial grant,
a Fifty Crows International Fund Award, a Magnum Foundation Caucasus
Photographer Award, and a Mario Giacomelli Memorial Fund Award. In 2012,
Effendi published her second monograph “Liquid Land”, where her images of Baku
are paired with photographs of perished butterflies hunted by her father, a
Soviet entomologist, who collected more than 30,000 butterflies in Soviet
Union. "Liquid Land" punctuates the theme of fragility and
environmental decay of her native city.
Over the past 10 years, Effendi has covered stories in the post-Soviet region, as well as in Turkey and Iran, including the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict, women victims of heroin and sex trafficking in Kyrgyzstan, and the hidden lives of youth in Tehran. In 2011, she received the Prince Claus Fund Award for Cultural Development and moved to Cairo. In 2012, Effendi was short-listed for the Prix-Pictet Global Award for Photography and Sustainability, for her series documenting life of the survivors of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Effendi’s involvement with World Press Photo goes back to 2005, when she was a participant in the Joop Swart Masterclass. In 2012, she was a selector for, and later contributor to the organization’s Reporting Change project. In 2014 Rena Effendi won 2nd and 3rd places in Observed Portrait Stories and Observed Potrait Singles categories of the World Press Photo Contest. worldpressphoto
Over the past 10 years, Effendi has covered stories in the post-Soviet region, as well as in Turkey and Iran, including the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict, women victims of heroin and sex trafficking in Kyrgyzstan, and the hidden lives of youth in Tehran. In 2011, she received the Prince Claus Fund Award for Cultural Development and moved to Cairo. In 2012, Effendi was short-listed for the Prix-Pictet Global Award for Photography and Sustainability, for her series documenting life of the survivors of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Effendi’s involvement with World Press Photo goes back to 2005, when she was a participant in the Joop Swart Masterclass. In 2012, she was a selector for, and later contributor to the organization’s Reporting Change project. In 2014 Rena Effendi won 2nd and 3rd places in Observed Portrait Stories and Observed Potrait Singles categories of the World Press Photo Contest. worldpressphoto
All images © Rena Effendi
