Ebrahim Alipoor, a Kurdish documentary photographer from Baneh, has won the top prize in the documentary photography category at the 2026 international competition organized by the Social Documentary Network (SDN) and ZEKE Magazine for his photo series “Bullets Have No Borders.”
The series captures the harsh and dangerous lives of Kolbars, cross-border porters working along the Iran-Iraq border regions.
The Social Documentary Network and ZEKE Magazine announced their 2026 winners this week, with Alipoor taking first place in the documentary category. “Bullets Have No Borders” is a long-term photography project documenting the high-risk conditions faced by porters along the Iran-Iraq border strip.
The project has previously received recognition at several major international events and competitions, including World Press Photo.
In a statement, the festival jury said Alipoor’s work, “through a powerful combination of human narrative and visual language, has managed to convey one of the world’s least-seen human crises with a profound impact on international audiences.”
