Transforming war into peace: Artist turns devastating historic photos of children ravaged by violent conflict and famine into happy illustrations
- Gunduz Aghayev, 34, of Azerbaijan, titled his series of illustrations 'Imagine', showing what the lives of the children could have been like
- He re-creates iconic photos such as 'Napalm Girl' from the Vietnam War and 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' from the Sudan famine
- Some people have praised the artist for the 'hopeful' images, while other have found them 'distasteful' and offensive
An artist is raising awareness about the horrific effects that warfare and poverty have on children in an arresting series of illustrations titled 'Imagine', which sees him transforming some of the world’s most iconic war-torn images into a picture filled with peace and love
Gunduz Aghayev, 34, of Azerbaijan, re-creates iconic photographs of children suffering in world conflicts, such as 'Napalm Girl' from the Vietnam War and a famous picture of child brides in Afghanistan, turning the devastating images into cartoons of the kids playing innocently and laughing.
The illustrator takes the horrific 1972 photo of a nine-year-old girl crying and running through the streets of Trang Bang, Vietnam, after she was severely burned by a napalm attack, and turns the image into a joyful cartoon which sees the girl holding a Statue of Liberty balloon with a smile on her face.
Art: Cartoonist Gunduz Aghayev, 34, of Azerbaijan, re-creates iconic photographs of children suffering in the world conflicts, such as 'Napalm Girl' from the Vietnam War (above), into happy illustrations
Creative: In Gundoz's version of the picture, the children smile and hold balloons, while the soldiers appears as scarecrows. In the original, the kids are screaming and crying from Napalm burns
In another image, Gunduz re-imagines Kevin Carter's heartbreaking Pulitzer Prize-winning photo, 'The Vulture and the Little Girl', which the photojournalist took during the famine in Sudan in 1993.
Kevin's picture sees a vulture perching by a young girl who is emaciated from hunger as she crawls to a food bank, waiting until she dies so that it can eat her.
Gunduz's turns the horrific photo, which some speculated was one cause of Kevin's suicide the following year, into a carefree cartoon of the child smiling as she poses for a picture with the bird.
The artist also re-created the 2015 photo of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, a Kurdish boy who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after trying to escape Syria during the refugee crisis.
His illustration sees Alan, whose name was originally reported as Aylan, cheerfully building a sandcastle on the beach, happily patting down the sand.
Perspective: Gunduz re-imagines Kevin Carter's Pulitzer Prize-winning photo, 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (above), which the photojournalist took during the famine in Sudan in 1993
Happy: The artist drew the little girl cheerfully embracing the bird as photographer Kevin Carter snaps the picture. In the real version, the vulture waits for the child to die so it can eat her
Devastating: This crushing image by photographer Joe O'Donnell shows a young Japanese boy bringing his dead baby brother to a crematorium after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki in 1945
Playing around: In Gunduz's version, the boy shoots his arms out like airplane wings as his baby sibling rides on his back, both of them laughing and staring into the sun
Contrast: Gunduz also injects superhero characters into his images, with one famous photo of a soldier carrying toddlers away from blasts in Vietnam transformed into a scene from an animated action movie
Heroes: Superman, Spiderman and Batman help save the kids in the artist's version
A crushing image by photographer Joe O'Donnell of a young Japanese boy bringing his dead baby brother to a crematorium after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 was another one of Gunduz's subjects.
In his version, the boy shoots his arms out like airplane wings as his baby sibling rides on his back, both of them laughing and staring into the sun.
Gunduz also injects superhero characters into his images, with one famous photo of a soldier carrying toddlers away from blasts in Vietnam transformed into a scene from an animated action movie.
The artist further re-imagined a photo of assassinated Azerbaijani journalist Elmar Huseynov's baby son touching a portrait of his dead father, turning it into a joyful cartoon of the dad and child embracing.
Horrible: The artist also re-created the 2015 photo of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, a Kurdish boy who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after trying to escape Syria during the refugee crisis
Cheerful: His illustration sees Alan cheerfully building a sandcastle on the beach, happily patting down the sand
Destruction: This famous photo of the wreckage from the Blitz in London during World War II shows a boy pointing to his former room
Comparision: Gunduz's re-creation sees the little boy standing with Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse and pointing to the Magic Kingdom - rather than his destroyed home
Touching: Gunduz re-imagined a photo of assassinated Azerbaijani journalist Elmar Huseynov's baby son touching a portrait of his dead father
Emotional: The artist's version sees the father and son embracing as they're surrounded by clouds
A photo of two child brides named Tehani and Ghada pictured looking stoic alongside their much-older husbands was turned into an illustration of the little girls playing with scarecrows, instead of the stern men.
Gunduz's re-creation of a famous photo of the wreckage from the Blitz in London during World War II sees a little boy standing with Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse and pointing to the Magic Kingdom - rather than his destroyed home.
Meanwhile, an image of Jewish doctor Janusz Korczak, who chose to die with the children at his orphanage during the Holocaust rather than leave them, has been turned into an image of the doctor showing the kids around a Holocaust museum.
Hope: A photo of two child brides named Tehani and Ghada pictured looking stoic alongside their much-older husbands was turned into an illustration of the little girls playing with scarecrows, instead of the stern men
Difference: The girls are carefree and able to enjoy being children in Gundoz's rendition
So sad: This image of Jewish doctor Janusz Korczak, who chose to die with the children at his orphanage during the Holocaust rather than leave them, was also re-created by Gunduz
History: The artist's version shows the doctor showing the kids around a Holocaust museum
The illustrations, which have been shared on Facebook by Gunduz, has received mixed reactions from people.
One user wrote: 'Brilliant and touching. Thanks for painting humanity,' while another person said: 'Very creative and hopeful.'
However, others found the cartoons offensive, with one woman writing: 'Sorry but I really don't like any of this. The photos are powerful and show reality, dirty and horrible and shocking, but turning them into happy paintings I find distasteful and disrespectful.'
Gunduz, a social activist, has previously done spoof portraits of nefarious world leaders and satirical illustrations of oppressive police forces around the globe.
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