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On Victory Day in May 2008, young men in the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia gather to participate in war games using toy guns. Pankisi has no jobs for the young men, and without money, they cannot leave the area. In any case, the Georgian government has not yet provided them with any legal status, so it is impossible for them to search for jobs in the city. © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
Georgia, 2013. Samtskhe­ – Javakheti region, Orja Village. Khanum (18) dances for her friends and neighbors at her house. Khanum was kidnapped twice for forceful marriage. Her father managed to get her back, regardless that it is considered a disgrace if the girl returns home after she has been kidnaped. She now sits at home and is unable to attend University, for her father fears that she will be kidnapped again. From a photo project and documentary movie "Double Aliens". © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
A family stands near their corn field in Pakhulani village in Georgian in 2017. © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
A rivalry collide in Guria region as locals gather to compete in the Lelo ball game, a centuries-old tradition between two villages. The stakes are high, with the intense physicality of the game sometimes leading to life-threatening injuries, reflecting the fierce determination and pride of the participants. 2018. © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
A child takes a swim in the Enguri River, which is used as the borderline of the Russian-supported separatist territory of Abkhazia. The river was previously known as a good location for safely crossing into Abkhazia, but recent installation of barbed wire fencing and surveillance equipment has slowed those crossings. The border marks on the photo illustrate the words of a local, when she had a small dialogue with a Russian militant standing in a watchtower that overlooked her house near the Enguri river. “I tok my grandkids out for a swim on a hot summer day, when the kids were already in the water, one of the Russian militants from the watchtower addressed me to keep the distance, I asked why? He said in Russian that half of the river belongs to Russia and half to Georgia”. Orsantia village, Georgia, 2017. © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
Mari Meladze, 18, poses near the occupied territory of Georgia's South Ossetia region in the village of Odzisi, Georgia, August 19, 2022. On that day, the de facto South Ossetian authorities announced they would reopen the Odsizi/Akhalgori checkpoint after three years, for 10 days per month. "My village is so isolated," she said. "When the checkpoint closed in our village, many were left isolated from their family members. After three years, the checkpoint is open, and locals can relocate between the regions. For relocation locals need a special pass which has an expiration date. After the expiration date, the holder of the pass is not guaranteed to get extension of the pass. This makes it hard for anyone who works in the regions or has a small business." © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
Dato Tsertsvadze, 14 years old, with his mother, Leila, at their home in Zeghduleti village, Georgia on January 15, 2023. Data is the grandson of Valia Valishvili, a women stranded in her home that was fenced in the Russian controlled territory in South Ossetia region. © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
GEORGIA. 2017. Village Pakhulani. Family living next to the border. Pakhuliani is one of the two checkpoints between the da facto region of Abkhazia and Georgian controlled territory. As known to the media there is only one checkpoint crossing. While on this assignment I discovered one more village where people could cross the border with illegal documents. © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
Tatia Adikashvili with one of their children at the border of the Russian-occupied Khurvaleti village. Tatia waits in the border policar car, while her husband Malkhaz hands a gallon of drinking water over the fence to his mother, who has none on her side. Escorted by a Georgian guard, they avoid arrest by the occupying forces – what they've experienced before. © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
The family of volunteer fighter Davit Ratiani, who was killed in Ukraine, mourns over his open casket on March 26, 2022 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Davit Ratiani, 53 years old, died under artillery fire on March 18th, while saving a wounded volunteer French fighter in the Irpin front, northwest of Kyiv. For many Georgians, the war in Ukraine amounts to a continuation of their ongoing struggle with Russia. At least 35 Georgians have died fighting in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, which is likely the largest death toll among any foreign contingent fighting on the Ukrainian side. © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
Giorgi Siradze, 29 years old, was born in Zestaponi hospital and was declared dead by the doctor, when in reality he was sold for adoption. 29 years later by the help of the facebook page "Vedzeb" team, birth mother, son and aunt are embracing each other, where aunt is hugging his long lost nephew for the very first time. Grandfather who never stopped his search for his lost grandson standing in the background on March 18, 2023, in Zestaponi, Georgia. The photo is from an investigative story on stolen babies of Georgia. © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
I asked the witnesses who are alive today to write on the photograph that they are the witness of the suitcase being buried and that they never seen what was inside. May 16, 2023, in Akhalsopeli village, Georgia. The photo is from an investigative story on stolen babies of Georgia. © Daro Sulakauri / VII Mentor Program.
Location
Tbilisi, Georgia
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Daro Sulakauri

VII Mentor Program 2025

Daro Sulakauri is a globally recognized Georgian photojournalist and visual artist whose work captures the complex social and political realities of the Caucasus region. A graduate of the International Center of Photography in New York, she gained early recognition for her documentation of Chechen refugees in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge, earning the Young Photographers in the Caucasus Award from Magnum Photos.

Her impactful storytelling has earned numerous honors, including the EU Prize for Journalism, a LensCulture Visual Storytelling Award, a John & Marie Phillips Scholarship, ICP Director’s Fund Scholarship, and a Reuters Photojournalism Grant. In 2024, she became the first Georgian TED Fellow, joining a global network of changemakers. Daro’s work has appeared in major publications like The New York Times, National Geographic, and Reuters, further solidifying the international reach of her projects.

Daro is also a Catchlight Global Fellow and a participant in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass, prestigious honors reflecting her influence in visual storytelling. Beyond photography, she has expanded her creative expression as a screenwriter and protagonist in the documentary ‘Double Aliens’ and as the author of two handmade books, “I Was Dreaming When I Wrote This” and “As the Sun Rises, the Tale of the Night Disappears”. She is also the creator of shifting-borders.com, an online platform exploring the personal stories of those living near the occupied territories of South Ossetia in Georgia. Through images, videos, personal letters, and multimedia storytelling, the project engages audiences with the experiences of those living on the frontlines of conflict.

Through her lens, Daro continues to explore issues of identity, resilience, and justice, amplifying the voices of marginalized communities and shaping conversations about the region’s past, present, and future.

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