In pictures: Iraqi photos celebrate daily life away from war

Displaced Iraqi children on the way back to their home village

An Iraqi photographer is offering the world an alternative view of his troubled country with a community project documenting the daily lives of ordinary people.

Shots of traditional cuisine, a dressmaker in an Irbil refugee camp and young men fishing on the Euphrates River are all images taken on mobiles phones by people around the country and contributed to his project Everyday Iraq.

Iraqi woman in her dressmaking shop in a refugee camp in Irbil

Ahmad Mousa, 25, says: "Many people around the world who don't know much about Iraq hear the name and they think of it as a war zone because of what they see and read in the news."

Children sitting on the pavement in an old neighbourhood in Baghdad

He says on his Facebook page that he wanted to expose people to a more human side of his country. "I wanted to share the everyday life scenes with everyone, document it and put it there in history."

He asks contributors to take pictures on their mobile phones and to post them to a public Instagram account.

Young men fishing on the Euphrates river

Iraq became a battleground for competing forces after the US-led invasion ousted President Saddam Hussein in 2003.

A boy takes a selfie near heart-shaped light arches in Baghdad during the Eid

Photo by Everyday Iraq founder Ahmad Mousa

A man gives a flower to a soldier near Tahrir Square, Baghdad

A woman prepares Iraqi dish Dolma, at her home in Baghdad

A group of cyclists in Dohuk

Girls in Baghdad

An Iraqi young man sells pickles in his cart in Shorja market in Baghdad

Tea vendor at the park in Sulaymaniyah

Iraqis release candle balloons in the air celebrating Nowruz