An exhibition of two journeys separated by time opened in Tbilisi on Monday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Magnum Photos within the ongoing Tbilisi Photo Festival.
Russian Journal Revisited, a display hosted at TBC Gallery, marks the anniversary date of the world-famous collective by hosting visitors to a story of a historical and contemporary travel through the same region.
Organisers exhibit works by World Press Photo award-winning German photojournalist Thomas Dworzak, captured during his journey throughout Georgia earlier this year.
Thomas Dworzak's portrait of a buy with the backdrop of the bridge over the Enguri river separating Georgian-controlled territory from the breakaway region of Abkhazia. Photo: Thomas Dworzak.
The trip involving Dworzak and British reporter Julius Strauss followed the trails of a well-known 1947 journey around the Soviet Union by famed photojournalist Robert Capa and author John Steinbeck, recorded in A Russian Journal.
Capa and Steinbeck toured the Soviet cities and towns for six weeks, travelling to Moscow, Stalingrad, Kiev and the Soviet Georgia.
Their resulting journal was published in 1948, with photographs also ending up in New York Herald Tribune and Ladies’ Home Journal.
A visitor of the Tbilisi exhibition views photographs displayed at the event. Photo: TBC Bank Facebook page.
Retracing the 70 year-old voyage, Dworzak and Strauss documented places and moments from lives of people in the former Soviet states today.
Beside the snapshots by the German photographer, the Tbilisi exhibition also hosted a public lecture on the 1947 travel focusing on Capa, narrated by curator Cynthia Young and accompanied by a slideshow from the New York-based International Centre of Photography.
The audience attending the event also had an opportunity to meet Dworzak, called "leading photographer of Georgia and Russia" by hosts of the exhibition.
A view of the sea from the coast of the Anaklia resort town, close to the administrative boundary line between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia. Photo: Thomas Dworzak.
Dworzak lived in Tbilisi from 1993-1998, working on reporting ethnic conflicts in South Caucasus and his portrayal of the people in the region.
He also covered the post-2001 wars in the Middle East and became member of Magnum Photos in 2004.
Julius Strauss worked as war correspondent documenting conflicts in the Balkans and the Middle East.
A photograph of visitors of the Museum of Soviet Occupation in Tbilisi. Photo: Thomas Dworzak.
He worked for The Daily Telegraph and The Globe and Mail during assignments as well as the journalism department at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
The display Russian Journal Revisited is one of the highlight events of this year’s Tbilisi Photo Festival, set to conclude tomorrow.
The exhibition featuring Dworzak's photography will be open for visitors through October 2.