Photographer Vadim Ghirda: Turkey-Syria border

Photographer Vadim Ghirda was born on January 15, 1971 and received his BA in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest in Romania.

His major assignments include social and political turmoil in Romania following the fall of communism in 1989, the conflict in Yugoslavia that led to the break up of the federation, including the 1999 bombing of Serbia, the Israel-Palestinian Conflict of 2001-2004, Crimea, Iraq, and the Olympics in both London 2012 and Sochi 2014.

An Associated Press photographer since 1990, Ghirda is currently based in Romania. His awards have included the National Headliner Awards First Prize in 2002, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar First Prize in 2007, and the National Press Photographers Association First Prize in 2013.

In late 2014, Ghirda documented the the border region between Turkey and Syria and the Syrian Kurdish refugees from Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab. Below is a selection of Ghirda’s photography while on assignment for The Associated Press. 

Turkey Syria

Seen through an air vent of a tent a Syrian Kurdish refugee woman from the Kobani area holds a child on a cold morning at a camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Turkey Syria Watching the Border

In this picture taken on Nov. 11, 2014,Kurds stand in line flashing victory signs during a solidarity rally with the Syrian city of Kobani in the village of Caykara, Turkey, on the Turkey-Syria border. Hundreds of volunteers, predominantly Kurdish Turks, who have traveled from all over southeastern Turkey and even from Istanbul, keep watch on the border with Syria, looking out for potential fighters of the extremist Islamic State group attempting to cross into Kobani, besieged since mid-September by IS and defended by Kurdish Syrian fighters known as the Peopleís Protection Units. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Turkey Syria

A Syrian Kurdish refugee child from the Kobani area peers from a tent at a refugee camp in Suruc, near the Turkey-Syria border Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Turkey Syria

A Kurdish man shouts carrying the coffin of a People's Protection Units, or YPG, fighter killed during fighting with Islamic State forces in the Syrian town of Kobani, during a funeral for five fighters in Suruc, near the Turkey-Syria border, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

APTOPIX Turkey Syria

Syrian Kurdish refugee Mohammad Hassan, 84 years-old, from Kobani cries, backdropped by his home town, on a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, Turkey, near the Turkey-Syria border, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Turkey Syria

A mourner leans against the cemetery wall during the funeral of 19 year-old female Syrian Kurdish fighter Perwin Mustafa Dihap who died after being wounded during fighting against the Islamic State forces in her home town of Kobani, in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Friday, Nov. 7, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

APTOPIX Turkey Syria

Turkish riot police raise their shields to obscure the view for media as Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters leave the outskirts of Suruc, Turkey, driving towards the Turkey-Syria border, on the way to the Syrian city of Kobani, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014. Iraqi peshmerga fighters left the area where they had stayed for days and headed Friday toward the Syrian border town of Kobani where they were expected to join the battle against Islamist militants besieging the town (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Turkey Syria

A Syrian Kurdish refugee boy from the Kobani sits at a camp in Suruc, near the Turkey-Syria border Monday, Nov. 3, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Turkey Syria

Kurds hold flags during a solidarity rally with the Syrian city of Kobani in the village of Caykara, Turkey, on the Turkey-Syria border, just across from Kobani, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. Tens of thousands of Kurds are rallying in Turkish cities in solidarity with the embattled Syrian city of Kobani, which has been under a brutal siege by the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Turkey Syria

A Syrian Kurdish refugee man from Kobani, walks outside a refugee camp in Suruc, near the Turkey-Syria border, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Turkey Syria

A man uses binoculars to watch fighting across the border in Kobani from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, near the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, Oct. 24, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

APTOPIX Turkey Syria

An elderly Syrian Kurdish refugee woman from the Kobani area, warms up by a fire at a camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Monday, Nov. 10, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

APTOPIX Turkey Syria

Syrian Kurdish refugee children from the Kobani area speak after receiving food rations in front of living quarters separated by plastic sheets at a camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

APTOPIX Turkey Syria

A Kurdish man holds a flag during a religious service for two People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters killed in the Syrian town of Kobani, in Caykara, on the Turkey-Syria border Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

APTOPIX Turkey Syria

Smoke rises from the Syrian city of Kobani, following airstrikes by the US led coalition, seen from a hilltop outside Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

APTOPIX Turkey Syria

A goat looks through a hole in the wall in the village of Caykara, Turkey, on the Turkey-Syria border, just across from Kobani, Tuesday Nov. 11, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Turkey Syria

The sun sets behind a Turkish military outpost on a hill overlooking the Syrian city of Kobani, outside Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Tuesday, Nov.11, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

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