The Fall of the Caliphate

• Prize
  Silver in Press/War
• Photographer
  John Beck, Turkey

The project was shot over 2016 and 2017 in Iraq and Syria as local
militias and security forces attempted to claw back the huge
swathes of land that made up ISIS's so-called Caliphate. Through
embeds with the men — and sometimes boys — battling at the
frontlines to images of the victims killed, wounded or displaced, it
depicts the terrible cost of the fight. In the aftermath of violence,
there are moments of joy too, as those the extremist group once
menaced enjoy glimpses of a long yearned-for freedom.