Sit-down + Camp, Zahle, Lebanon, 2004

Their community gave birth to my work 20 years ago and continues to inspire me. Back then they were migrants working the fields and factories of Lebanon, having moved into camps for the sake of a better life. Now their homes in Syria are almost certainly destroyed and they are living as refugees in Lebanon. My hope is that the violence ends and their community can find peace as well as a life without struggle. I look forward to seeing them on Monday.

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Young Syrian + Scarf, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, 2019

As the series from last year in Lebanon continues, more and more familiar faces rise through the developer. This young girl lives but ten minutes away from my family's home in Zahle, and in the very first encampment which gave birth to my images in Lebanon over two decades.

Her portrait needed to be printed close up, cropped and large, embracing the grain of #kodaktrix and her incredibly strong expression!

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Syrian Girl + Camp, Lebanon, 2018

Contrasts exist in some of least likely places, like this young girl's camp. The picture on one of the homes had propaganda with a young woman in a short dress. The community which lives in this camp is conservative, where women cover themselves according to their religion. A dress such as the one in the advertisement is forbidden.

This young girl lives in the very camp which gave birth to my photography nearly 22 years ago. Her mother was a young girl then. Last September was my most recent visit and her portrait was made inside of her home, with only the sun coming through the window.

She and her community have lived in Lebanon for over three decades. At first they fled their country as economic refugees, and have now become refugees of the brutal war in their homeland of Syria.

She is as sublime as any in my work, and her love is as pure as the sky in Lebanon during June. Anyone visiting Lebanon in the summer knows that the sky is perfectly blue every single day.

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Los contrastes existen en algunos de los lugares menos probables, como el campamento de esta niña. La imagen en una de las casas tenía una propaganda con una joven con un vestido corto. La comunidad que vive en este campamento es conservadora, donde las mujeres se cubren a sí mismas de acuerdo con su religión. Un vestido como el de la propaganda está prohibido.

Esta joven vive en el mismo campamento donde comenzó mi fotografía hace casi 22 años. Su madre era una niña en ese momento. El último mes de septiembre fue mi visita más reciente y su retrato se hizo dentro de su casa, solo con el sol de la ventana.

Ella y su comunidad han vivido en el Líbano durante más de tres décadas. Al principio, huyeron de su país como refugiados económicos y ahora son refugiados de la guerra brutal en su tierra natal de Siria.

Ella es tan sublime como cualquiera en mi trabajo, y su amor es tan puro como el cielo en el Líbano durante junio. Cualquier persona que visite el Líbano en verano sabe que el cielo está perfectamente azul todos los días. 

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