About

John is a writer and documentary photographer based in Istanbul, Turkey. His work deals primarily with conflict, displacement and their longterm repercussions in the Middle East and beyond. He has been published by National Geographic, Wired, GQ, The New York Times, The Atlantic and many others.

He is a Pulitzer Center grantee and the 2019 Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism fellow. He won the 2017 Kurt Schork Memorial Award for his coverage of the Battle for Mosul and has been shortlisted for a number of others including the Bayeux-Calvados Awards for war correspondents, Athens Photo Festival, One World Media Awards and Prix de la Photographie Paris.

He is HEFAT and RISC certified.

Contact
john.mackenzie.beck@gmail.com

 

Some pics taken for my new @businessweek piece on the Middle East’s space race. Includes a mission to mars, advice on spending ramadan in orbit, and MBS's half brother (the first Arab/Muslim/prince astronaut). Link in bio and many thanks to @ja
Some pics taken for my new @businessweek piece on the Middle East’s space race. Link in bio and many thanks to @janeyeomansbbphoto. 1.UAE Minister for Advanced Sciences, Sarah al Amiri in Dubai 2. Aclean room in Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rash
The temple complex at Lalish, Yazidism’s holiest site, as pilgrims gathered to celebrate the Feast of Assembly back in October. Shot to accompany my piece on the community’s uncertain future in Iraq supported by the Daniel Pearl Investiga
The temple complex at Lalish, Yazidism’s holiest site, as pilgrims gathered to celebrate the Feast of Assembly back in October. Shot to accompany my just-published piece on the community’s uncertain future in Iraq supported by the Daniel
Outside the main temple in Lalish, Yazidism’s holiest site as pilgrims gathered to celebrate the Feast of Assembly back in October. Shot to accompany my just-published piece on the community’s uncertain future in Iraq supported by the Dan
Outside the main temple in Lalish, Yazidism’s holiest site as pilgrims gathered to celebrate the Feast of Assembly back in October. Shot to accompany my just-published piece on the community’s uncertain future in Iraq supported by the Dan
Back in September, @moniquejaques and I travelled to Solomon Islands for @natgeo with support from @pulitzercentre to report on the devastating toll that unchecked logging is having across the country. Our story (link in bio) focused on the village o
Back in September, @moniquejaques and I travelled to Solomon Islands for @natgeo with support from @pulitzercentre to report on the devastating toll that unchecked logging is having across the country. Our story (link in bio) focused on the village o
Men sweep up dust near the temple complex at Lalish in Iraqi Kurdistan, the most sacred place in the Yazidi faith. Today was the second day of Festival of Assembly, a sacred week where Yazidis make the pilgrimage here from all over the world. It is o
Saudi sisters Dalal (l) and Dua (r) in an Istanbul safehouse after escaping their father while on holiday in Turkey. He was abusive and controlling, they said, and would have forced them to marry older, religious men. So they made a break for it, run
Three years ago today, rogue factions Turkish military factions attempted to stage a coup, using jets, helicopters and tanks to bomb the parliament building and attack civilians, killing 251 people and wounding 2,200 more. The attempt was crushed and
Scenes of joy on Istanbul’s central Istiklal Caddesi last night as opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu won a re-run of the city's mayoral election, ending 25 years of AKP rule in the city. Previous polls in March, which Immamoglu also (just) wo