2006, Cruas, France

French nuclear power plant

A French nuclear power plant at night. France has 58 nuclear reactors in service, which produce over 75% of the country's electricity.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Friday November 14, 2008, Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine

Onboard an Ukrainian navy ship in Sevastopol

Second-Lieutenant Pavel Lukomsky standing onboard the "Sagaydachniy", the flagship of the Ukrainian naval forces in Sevastopol. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine came to an agreement to share the warships from the Soviet Black Sea Fleet.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Friday November 14, 2008, Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine

Onboard an Ukrainian navy ship in Sevastopol

Sailors in their living quarters onboard the "Sagaydachniy", the flagship of the Ukrainian naval forces in Sevastopol.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Thursday October 9, 2008, Paris, France

Obama art exhibition in Paris

A portrait of Barack Obama on display in a Parisian art gallery.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Sunday July 27, 2008, Paris, France

Velib cycle rental scheme in Paris

Dozens of Velib bicycles on display during the one-year anniversary event of the Velib rental scheme. Those heavy-duty bicycles have been designed to endure 10 to 15 trips per day.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Sunday July 27, 2008, Paris, France

Velib cycle rental scheme in Paris

A Parisian girl cycling on a Velib rental bicycle in central Paris, near the Eiffel tower.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Sunday July 13, 2008, Paris, France

Nicolas Sarkozy diplomacy

French president Nicolas Sarkozy (C) shaking hands of Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert (R) and Palestinian authority president Mahmoud Abbas (L), during a meeting at the Elysee palace prior to the founding summit of the Union of the Mediterranean.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Sunday July 13, 2008, Paris, France

Union of the Mediterranean founding summit in Paris

Syrian president Bachar al Assad attending the founding summit of the Union of the Mediterranean. His presence in Paris represents a break to his long standing international isolation. Leaders from over 40 European and Mediterranean states are meeting in Paris to launch a French-inspired Union to reinforce cooperation among countries bordering the Mediterranean rim.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Monday June 30, 2008, Paris, France

France assumes EU presidency

The Eiffel Tower is illuminated with the European flag colours as France assumes the European Union presidency on the eve of the 1st of July, 2008.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Thursday May 15, 2008, Jerusalem, Israel

Portrait of an Internet god

Sergey Brin, founder of Internet giant Google, attending a gathering of media and internet leaders during a conference organised for Israel 60th anniversary.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Sunday April 27, 2008, Jerusalem, Israel

Israel 60th anniversary

The Dome of the Rock in the old city of Jerusalem framed by barbed wires shaped as a heart.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Thursday March 20, 2008, Tehran, Iran

Iranian New Year Celebrations

A table decorated with a set of "haft sins", a set of seven objects starting with the letter "s" in farsi, which are displayed in almost every dwellings in the country during the Iranian solar new year celebrations.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Tuesday March 18, 2008, Tehran, Iran

Celebration of Iranian New Year

An Iranian woman jumping over bonfires during the festival of fire, "Chaharshanbe Suri", celebrated on the last wednesday before the Iranian new year. Several symbols of this festival are rooted back in pre-Islamic traditions of Zoroastrianism.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Tuesday March 18, 2008, Tehran, Iran

Underground rock concert in Iran

An underground rock concert organised on the last wednesday of the year, "Chaharshanbe Suri", the traditional festival of fire.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Monday March 17, 2008, Esfahan, Iran

War graveyard in Iran

An Iranian man visiting a war graveyard to replace the photo of his brother, who died during the Iraq - Iran war.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Thursday November 8, 2007, Berri, South Australia, Australia

Historic drought affecting Australian vineyards

Silhouette of dead vines in the South Australian Riverland. Growers in this area are allowed to use only 16% of their allocated irrigation quota because their main source of water, the Murray river, is increasingly depleted.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Saturday October 27, 2007, Stuart Highway Near Pimba, About, South Australia, Australia

Solar car submerged by a dust storm

Members of the team "Solar Fox" being submerged by an intense dust storm in the Australian Outback. The team was taking part in the World Solar Challenge, a 3000 kms race accross the Australian continent.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Wednesday October 24, 2007, Stuart Highway Midway Between Al, South Australia, Australia

World Solar Challenge in Australian desert

Picture of the solar racing car of Australian team "Aurora" racing through the Outback during the World Solar Challenge.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Wednesday October 10, 2007, Hyderabad, India

Great digital divide in India

Child living in a slum located right in the middle of Hyderabad's technology park. The huge Cyber Gateway can be clearly seen in the background.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Wednesday July 18, 2007, Brussels, Belgium

EU parliament in Brussels

A view inside the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Wednesday May 30, 2007, Mount Ararat, Igdir, Turkey

A new Noah's Ark against global warming

Greenpeace workers exit a replica of Noah's Ark at night. They are building the highly-symbolic biblical Ark in order to bring attention to global warming.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Wednesday May 30, 2007, Mount Ararat, Igdir, Turkey

A new Noah's Ark to protest global warming

A replica of Noah's Ark at the feet of mount Ararat with a rising moon in the background.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Monday March 5, 2007, Poso, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Islamic education in Indonesia

Young Muslim children attend pre-school Islamic education and play games during recreation time.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Wednesday June 22, 2005, Paris, France

Free public concert under a bridge in Paris during the annual "Fete de la Musique". This celebration takes place every 21st of June all accross France. Anybody is allowed to go and play music in the streets, resulting in the largest public outdoor music festival.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Thursday October 30, 2008, Balaclava, Crimea, Ukraine

Soviet heritage in Crimea

Soviet biological and nuclear protection gears displayed in a tunnel inside the former Soviet submarine base in Balaclava. The top secret military installation has been turned into a museum after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Auschwitz, Poland

Auschwitz extermination camp

A visitor walking in the former Auschwitz extermination camp, which has been turned into a museum and memorial.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Paris, France

Inside a French bakery

A French baker taking chocolate croissants out of his oven.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan

Traditional gunmaker in Pakistan

Traditional gunmaker in Darra Adam Khel, near Peshawar, showing off two guns: the original in black and the copy in silver.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris / Polaris

Thursday December 4, 2008, Karachi, Pakistan

Muslim woman in Karachi

A Muslim woman walking under a MacDonald Arch in Karachi, Pakistan.

Credit: Mehdi Chebil / Polaris

Mehdi Chebil

Mehdi Chebil is a professional photojournalist based in his native city of Paris. After graduating from the Paris Institut d'Etudes Politiques, he studied visual arts at the Australian National University and started collaborating with The Diplomat Magazine, a foreign affairs publication. This experience nurtured a global point of view on political issues and besides working as a correspondent in Europe, Mehdi has produced several investigative reportages across the Middle East and the Asia – Pacific region. Versatile and multilingual, he enjoys those extensive assignments where he can deal with a large variety of situations, from shooting violent protests to illustrating abstract political concepts. Mehdi has joined Polaris in 2005 with a photo essay on grassroots democratization in China; the beginning of a fruitful relationship that brought his photos to some of the world's leading publications.

Personal web site of Mehdi Chebil