Arabia Felix p. 1
“The depth of the Syrian tragedy is poignantly reflected in the accounts of its victims. Their harrowing experiences of survival detail grave human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The destructive dynamics of the civil war not only have an impact on the civilian population but are also tearing apart the country’s complex social fabric, jeopardizing future generations and undermining peace and security in the entire region.”
Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.
United Nations General Assembly
Human Rights Council
Twenty-second session
Agenda item 4
A/HRC/22/59
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We tend to see the frame as the image itself, objectifying the photograph instead of looking through it to understand.
Often our imagery is produced by highly educated “seers” as a product of a civilisation that has been taught to view the world in a singular way.
These Polaroids were shot in and around Syria in 2012/2013 and are all related to the ongoing conflict. Each Polaroid has been exposed as well as composed correctly, but the exposed negative has never been removed from the photographic paper.
Right after the moment of exposure the Polaroid has been handed over to people present in the situation with a request for them to write on the back of the picture. No direction or explanation of what to write has been given, this has been left completely up to the individual.
“Bab El Salama”
“These are the mortar shells of Bashar that hit the house in the village of Al Hibat and resulted in a number of injured people and two women martyrs.”
“Abu Jameel is a rocket warrior”
Blank
“This is the body of a woman who was killed by a mortar shell that fell on their house and killed this mother of seven.”
“Khalid Hmaydo”
“At five in the morning we were awaken by the sound of a Russian plane then it fired a missile”
“Bab El Salama”
“The army killed us in our houses and we became homeless and I became disabled for life because of shrapnel and I lost my father and my mother who were killed by the Syrian army. Our thanks to Denmark.”
“A MiG plane dropped 4 missiles in the region of Hibat”