On assignment for the New York Times in 1993, Susan Meiselas travelled to Nagorno-Karabakh amid the escalating conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 1988, following an attempt to align itself with Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh's residents voted overwhelmingly for independence. This triggered a seemingly never-ending war with Azerbaijan, who had no intention of relinquishing the territory which had been incorporated into their state during the Soviet Union.

As war waged on, three years later in 1996 Meiselas returned to the Ismailli region of Azerbaijan. According to a report from the Azerbaijani...