Goleta Valley Voice, CA
May 14 2005

A war photographer’s South Coast interlude

By Margo Kline, Voice Managing Editor

Jonathan Alpeyrie is a serious young man who speaks in low, steady
tones as he describes his life, spent flying to the far-and most
troubled-corners of the Earth.
He has been a bird of passage since starting college at the
University of Chicago in 1998, spending summers chasing exotic
locales while working as a photojournalist. He landed on the South
Coast this spring.
Just back from a week’s trip to Armenia, Alpeyrie explained in an
interview Monday his decision to remain in this area for the summer.
It’s `because of someone I met here.’ She is Alissa Anderson, an
alumna of UCSB now working as an art dealer.
Alpeyrie acknowledged that a career in photojournalism might be
somewhat offbeat for someone who majored in medieval history in
college and swam competitively while earning his degree. What began
with a desire to see exotic places in his time off from classes
evolved into a career chasing photos in locations as diverse as the
former Soviet Union, Congo and the Ivory Coast in Africa, and Nepal,
where Maoist rebels are warring with the royal government. He also
finds time to go to the country of his birth, France.
His recent trip to Armenia provided material for a less
deadline-oriented project, Alpeyrie said. `I’ve been to ex-Yugoslavia
to interview veterans of Bosnia and Croatia who were in World War
II,’ he said. `I wanted people who had fought in foreign armies,
mostly mercenaries.’ The vets he interviewed and photographed, all
Slovenians and Croatians, fought for Nazi Germany `because they hated
Russia,’ he said. In researching the project, he found that,
suprisingly, Hitler’s Wermacht had about 900,000 Muslims, from what
is now Bosnia.
Alpeyrie, the son of a Spanish mother and a Russian father, spent his
first 14 years in Paris. Then he moved to New York with his father
and sister. `I guess I call Manhattan home,’ he said. His father and
sister still live there. His mother lives in Mexico, near Puerta
Vallarta.
He attended the Lycee Francaise in New York City, which he enjoyed
thoroughly, he said. `It was a lot of fun. I wasn’t very happy to go
to college.’ But the University of Chicago proved to be `a good kick
in the butt,’ he said.
He started working as a photojournalist for local papers. In 2001, he
took his first trip to Armenia. From there, he journeyed on to
Lebanon and Syria. `They have Armenian communities in Lebanon and
Syria, like they do now in Glendale,’ he said. `I like the Armenians.
They’re very nice.’
These days, Alpeyrie shoots news photos for Getty and Agence France
Presse. At the same time, he pursues larger projects like the
Wermacht veterans, with the aim of publishing books.
`Went I first went [to Armenia}, I had no idea what I would find,’ he
said. `There is a lot of heavy industry in Armenia. The factories
were built by the Russians, then the Armenians worked in them. Now,
they’re selling them for scrap.’
Traveling the world has led Alpeyrie to some sobering conclusions
about geopolitics. For instance, the Armenians are still mindful of
the mass killings of their countrymen in the early 20th century by
Turks. `Everybody [in Armenia] is very hard about this, most
passionate about it. They really dislike the Turks. The Turks want to
find an agreement about this that it wasn’t genocide. In the west, we
argue about what is genocide. I think it was genocide. They [Turks]
took whole families, put them in the desert…where they died.’
Consequently, he is not sympathetic about Turkey joining the European
Union. `Poland and France are pretty determined against Turkey in the
EU. The Turks want to join because of money, it’s not for
intellectual reasons. Is Turkey Europe? It’s not.’
His travels in Africa were also an awakening. He went to the Congo
but `I didn’t get involved with the rebels. I did a photo essay about
the Binza, kids accused of being witches. Their families kicked them
out, saying they’re the reason the families are poor.’
The ongoing war among the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda `is worse for the
kids.’ The warring factions `really mess each other up.’
Now, Alpeyrie is pausing for a few months to do freelance photography
in California, work on his book projects and enjoy spending time with
Alissa Anderson. Both his parents have met the young woman, he said,
and found her `impressive. They both like her.’
She will go to Manhattan in September to attend graduate school at
Christie’s, the art auctioneers. Alpeyrie will return to New York at
the same time, then leave for a month in Nepal.
In two previous visits to the Himalayan nation, he was in a group
that was ambushed. On one of those trips, he saw a government
helicopter strafe a village.
Alpeyrie said his routine in such combat situations is always the
same: `In the field, I stay with soldiers. They know you’re there
shooting [photos], that you’re there with them. That’s what I do
every time. I make friends with the lieutenants and captains, the
platoon leaders. They lead the men into battle.’
In the same quiet voice, he added, `I am not afraid.’

Courtesy photo

Caption: Jonathan Alpeyrie scans the terrain from a helicopter,
during one of his trips abroad as a photojournalist.