What a height. What a burden. And—where was the photographer standing to capture this moment? This obviously isn’t a mountain trail for holiday hikers like me. This is the harsh world of the koolbar—Kurdish porters who carry goods like TV-screens, air conditioners, tires, or cigarettes across the Zagros Mountains. Mostly men, but also women and teenagers, navigate this treacherous terrain between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan to make a living. Many are well educated, even holding university degrees, yet unemployment and discrimination leave few alternatives.  

Photographer Ebrahim Alipoor, one of the winners of the 2025 World Press Photo for his series Bullets Have No Borders, captures his people with a camera, carrying their stories. His fascination with photography began in childhood, when his father bought a camera and let Ebrahim help him develop his photographs in the darkroom. From an early age, Alipoor knew his mission: to make visible a people the world often ignores. Here, the camera becomes a weapon—not least because each year some 300 koolbars are injured or killed by Iranian border guards. 

MIRJAM KOOIMAN is Head of Artistic Programming at Foam, where she leads the museum’s curatorial and editorial teams. She holds a BA in Art History and MA in Curating Arts & Culture from the University of Amsterdam. She has curated over 40 exhibitions and initiated international collaborations in Mexico, Nigeria, and Indonesia to foster a global dialogue on photography. From early darkroom experiments to the latest technological innovations, Kooiman explores photography’s evolving and enigmatic nature — and, through that lens, what it means to be a photography museum today.