At The Half King September 11, 2012 – October 30, 2012
Artist’s reception: Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

They [brides] show up in the streets in mini-skirts and with their hair loose. The mentality of our people does not allow for these things. I have the right to criticize my wife. She doesn’t [have the right to criticize me]. A woman would be [man’s] property. And the man is the owner.
- Ramzan Kadyrov, President of the Chechen Republic

New York, NY—On September 11th, Diana Markosian’s photo exhibit of Chechen girls coming of age in a society rapidly turning Islamic, will open at The Half King. Diana spent the last year and a half in Chechnya, where women are increasingly being harassed, paint-balled, and killed, for violating the Republic’s new, stringent Islamic dress codes and behavioral rules.

On opening night, Diana and Whitney Johnson, Director of Photography at The New Yorker, will moderate a slideshow and discussion of Diana’s work.

“In Diana’s work we see young women both defying and accommodating the ever-narrowing margins they’re allowed to operate in—just as Diana herself experienced similar harassment for trying to document them,” says curator Anna Van Lenten. “Despite her subjects’ apparent innocence, the context of their strict culture means they are far more vulnerable than we perceive. Diana’s courage and persistence has brought this story to light.

The Half King Photography Series is dedicated to showing exceptional documentary photography. In tandem with its reading series, it fosters a dialog between photographers and writers that underscores the importance of their relationship. Co-curating its photography series are James Price, photo editor at Newsweek, and Anna Van Lenten, writer and editor.

Diana Markosian’s interest in the aftermath of war has taken her from the mountains of Dagestan, to the ancient Silk Road in Tajikistan and the perilous landscape of Afghanistan. Originally from Moscow, Russia, she immigrated to the United States as a child. Markosian holds a masters degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.