Myrto Papadopoulos is a photographer, educator and filmmaker. Her work tends to focus on issues regarding gender, identity, and trauma.
She finished her studies in 2003; after completing a five-year Fine Arts degree she majored in painting and photography. In 2006, she applied for a documentary photography degree at the ICP(International Centre of Photography) in New York, where she was granted a scholarship.
She is a nominee for the 2018 Prix Pictet Award and a winner – emerging photographer 2013 of the Magenta Foundation.
Her work has been awarded and presented in solo and group exhibitions e.g. the Mois off de la photo 08 in Paris – the PHOTOQUAI 2em Biennal Du Monde 09 at the Museé Quai Branly in Paris – the New York photo Festival09 – the LOOK3 Between Festival 2010 USA – the DUMBO Arts Festival 2011 in NY – the Athens Photo Festival 2008, 2011, 2012,2016 – the Flash Forward Exhibition 2013 in Toronto and Washington DC -the Lishui Photography Festival 2015 in China – the MEDPHOTO Festival 2016 – the IDFA doc lab 2017, the TBLISI Photo Festival 2018 and more.
Her clients include: TIME Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Nationalgeographic.com, GEO, The New York Times, WSJ, Le Monde, The Guardian, The Washington Post, DIE ZEIT, ARTE TV, BBC among others. Today she works as a freelance photographer and a documentary filmmaker and is represented by Redux Pictures in NY.
The new plastic road
For centuries one of the world’s most isolated areas, the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan is currently being opened up to new economic development mainly via Chinese investment in the region’s rudimentary infrastructure. This project aims to chronicle how a traditional culture is being transformed. A wider socio-economic trend is reflected in the changes to the daily lives of those affected.
At 2,200 meters above sea level in the Pamir Mountains, just north of Afghanistan, the Gorno Badahshan province in Tajikistan is appropriately referred to as the roof of the world. Tajikistan is one of the poorest countries on the globe yet there is now a sense of change here. The new silk road connecting Khorog to China has brought more than just commerce over the past decade. It has acted as a bloodline, pumping life into a country that has suffered geographical isolation for far too long.
With a population of 28,000, the place has a small- town feel. Life in the Pamirs is very much defined by the weather. But even though the cold, wet winters often render the roads and trading routes impassable, the people of Khorog remain in high spirits. A nation with an average age of 22 years old can’t afford not to be optimistic.
The Tajik youth are also keenly attuned to the new, forward-thinking vibe. They see the signs of it all around, whether it’s in the recent adoption of Western clothing styles or in the new city park.
The older generations have been around long enough to remember the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing Tajikistan Civil War in 1992 that left GBAO as an autonomous province .
Without the security and work provided by the Soviets, Tajikistan was doomed to the dark recesses of poverty and geographical obscurity. Not a single sign of progress until 2004 when, 500 km east of Khorog, China opened its border for trade. Ten years later, new schools and universities are being erected in Khorog. Children now have opportunities their parents never had, parents who after facing so many harsh years, are finally able to turn their thoughts from poverty to prosperity. All of their hopes are placed on the young generation, the future, and the road that is feeding it.