photojournalist Farid Khayrulin

The name that Farid Khayrulin, a renowned photojournalist, chose for his current exhibition, hosted at the gallery of the Azerbaijan Museum Center, is “Baku – yesterday and today”. The exhibition includes about 100 photos, and the meaning of the word “yesterday” is far from "distant past”. Only two pictures are really old: a panorama of the Baku of 1982 and a photo taken in 2001 – it, too, appears so antique compared to the drastically different Baku of today. And this – the reflection of the rapid pace of the Baku construction boom – is one of the goals of this exhibition.

The artist voices his protest against the fact that in the very center of our capital there still remain the narrow streets where space is so limited. This is particularly obvious in a number of photographs of dark narrow dead-end streets, only too common in the old quarters. People should not live like this - says the artist ...>>>

...They were looking at me and I was looking back at them. Silent, motionless, afraid to disturb the flow of energy emanating from the photographs. No event, no ceremony in the country takes place without his participation. Virtually everyone knows him. His photographs, reprinted in millions of copies, have spread across the whole world – you can come across them on the covers of popular magazines, on the pages of newspapers, at private exhibitions hosted in Germany, Israel, Russia and the USA. His diverse works form the mosaics of our times. And at the core of it all lies the uncanny gift of the artist - a photojournalist, a winner of the Khumaj, Golden Argus and G. Zardabi awards - Farid KKhayrulin. Tomorrow Farid KKhayrulin turns 60 ...>>>

In 2000, Khumaj, a prestigious national award, was granted for the first time in the nomination of “professional photography”. The first award in this nomination was granted to Farid Khayrulin, a renowned Azerbaijani photojournalist ...>>>

«I was taking photographs while a Soviet Army officer was aiming at me»

The 20th of January is recent history for the young generation and a never healing wound for the older one. For the rest of the world, the 20th of January is the historical photographs taken by Farid Khayrulin, a photojournalist, a winner of the Khumaj and G. Zardabi awards.
– I heard that the Soviet troops had entered Baku at 2 AM. In the morning, I took a drive to the center of the city. The first thing I saw near the Azizbekov metro station was a KamAZ, whose cab was riddled with bullets. The inside of the cab was covered in blood. I was terrified. I don’t know how, but I managed to take a few photographs ...>>>

Farid Khayrulin is a member of the Azerbaijan Union of Journalists and the Republican Association of photojournalists. He is a winner of the Khumaj, Golden Argus and G. Zardabi awards. He is accredited to the press-service of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic. He contributes his works to Azerbaijani information agencies, as well as to Reuters and such journals as “Azerbaijan IRS”, “Azerbaijan International” ...>>>