The event was held next Wednesday, 1st August, at 8.00 pm at Revillagigedo Palace's Colegiata San Juan Bautista

Iranian-French photojournalist Reza Deghati opened a conference series given by National Geographic explorers on Wednesday, 1st August, at 8.00 pm at the Cajastur Cultural Centre-Colegiata San Juan Bautista in Gijon's Revillagigedo Palace.

Reza Deghati is the author of the photographs in "One World, One Tribe", one of the exhibits that make up the largest exhibition series carried out to date in Europe by National Geographic in grateful appreciation for the 2006 Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities and which is on display in Gijon. During his conference, the photographer spoke about his experiences travelling the world as a photojournalist and about his foundation, Aïna, which he himself created in 1981 and whose objective is to support the democratization and creation of a civil society in Afghanistan, after over twenty years of war. Its foremost mission is to support and train Afghans that contribute to the country's cultural life and mass media with their work.

To spotlight interest on the exhibition that is on display in Gijon and to support and bring public notice to Reza's work, National Geographic Channel has scheduled for August the documentaries "Explorers: Reza" and "In the Forbidden Zone", in which the photographer himself stars. The former is a profile on his work and the latter is about Reza's and journalist Sebastian Junger's trip to Afghanistan during the Taliban regime.

Reza Deghati
Reza Deghati was born in Tabriz, Iran, in 1952. He has never used his surname for his professional work since his dissident activities made him a target for the authorities in his country. When he was 14 years old he began to teach himself the rudiments of photography. He then went on to study Architecture at Teheran University.

He photographed his country's rural society from 1971 to 1978, but the Iranian Revolution impelled him to cover the conflict for the French Press Agency. This work caught the attention of Newsweek, for which he was a correspondent in Iran from 1978 to 1981. He was later a correspondent in the Middle East for Time and from 1989 to 1990 he was a consultant for the United Nation?s humanitarian programme in Afghanistan.

Reza's first work for National Geographic magazine was "Cairo: Clamorous Heart of Egypt", published in April 1993. Reza has taken part in several books, is a correspondent for BBC Persian and Radio France International Persian, and has lectured at educational institutions such as the École d'Art in Paris and George Washington University in Washington DC.

Exhibition series
Titled "From the Chasms of the Sea to the Summits of the Earth. The Grand National Geographic Exhibit in Europe", three grand photography exhibitions ("Women Photographers", "Covers" and "One World, One Tribe") are on display in Gijon, opening this event series organized by the Prince of Asturias Foundation and the Gijon Port Authority. This year marks the centennial of the first commercial shipping at El Musel Port. The Port of Gijon's Fomento, el Muelle and Antigua Rula areas will be the setting for these three exhibitions.
In addition, September will yield the worldwide debut of the exhibition "Through the Eyes of the Condor," with aerial photographs of Latin America by Robert B. Haas. The exhibit is to open simultaneously in both Gijon and Washington, where the National Geographic Society has its headquarters.