Photographer #398: Jason Larkin

Jason Larkin, United Kingdom, 1979, is a documentary photographer who was originally trained as a photojournalist. He concentrates on developing larger bodies of work that engage and reflect on current affairs. He focuses on the less reported aspects of the Middle East and Africa, trying to achieve a "more comprehensive viewpoint of an often misunderstood and ignored reality". In his series Cairo Divided he photographed the construction sites in the deserts outside of Cairo. The city has grown at a fast pase, and even though it's growth was bounded by the narrow strip of fertile land, irrigated by the Nile, the elite class of the city is starting to move to new urban centers in the desert in an attempt to escape the chaos and growing amount of slums. Mistake of Nature is a series photographed in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. While being a region that has suffered one of the worst environmental disasters, the disapearance of the Aral Sea, which in turn has caused a collapse of its industry and economy, the people are slowly demanding their independance. The people that wish not to have an independent state are largely leaving the region. In recent years Jason has exhibited his work in several European cities as well as Boston, Toronto, Dubai and Cairo. The following images come from the series Cairo Divided, Mistake of Nature and In the Footsteps of the King.

Website: www.jasonlarkin.co.uk