Best Friends + Field, Shamli District, Uttar Pradesh, India

I do miss these young girls and their friends, and have the highest respect for their courage in the midst of indifference and intolerance. Their village is the one in which I sleep during my stay in Uttar Pradesh, thanks to @chmunshadali and his beautiful family.

Their village is their world, and more exactly their home is their world. Unless they are attending school, they are almost always within the confines of their homes.

They’re fully aware of the hardships facing them and yet they persevere and endure through it all. In this classroom they could be themselves and act out their creative thoughts. It’s been an honor to be at their side all of these years.

Etsy 

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Four friends + Flower, Shamli District, Uttar Pradesh, India

This is what happens when the digital camera comes out. The girls start to run around, pick friends and get creative. We use available light and sit still while the students direct the photography. I’m blessed to have film portraits of all these girls, and some digital images as a reminder of our times together.

Etsy 

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Nica + Forest, Miramar, Nicaragua, 2019

My visit to Nicaragua came as my 50th year approached, the same age my father had when we left in the aftermath of the 1973 earthquake. The feeling of walking the same streets as my parents cannot be described. The embrace by the rural communities as we travelled took me by surprise and made me realize that I was home after so long. 

Such was this morning session near Miramar. The people of this neighborhood embraced us immediately, such as this young and her family. Their lives are extremely hard, as they endure an existence without running water, access to healthcare, proper electricity, sanitation... while living in homes with dirt floors and open windows. These were the people that I wanted to meet, these are the lives that I needed to document. 

Etsy 

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Dunes + Sky, Imperial Sand Dunes, California, 2019

How I miss driving thru Southern California, with a camera in my hands. Over every hill was another set of photographic possibilities. While in LA the weekends were reserved for the landscapes of sand dunes!

Etsy 

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Best Friends + Syrians, Near Zahle, Lebanon, 2019

Normally boys create chaos due to my photography of the girls, but these boys were my allies in keeping the peace. Even though chaos ensued to some degree, I was proud of them!

Etsy 

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Muslim Girl + Classroom, Shamli District, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2019

I really do miss this girl and her friends, and have the highest respect for their courage in the midst of indifference and intolerance. Their village is their world, and more exactly their home is their world. Unless they are attending school, they are almost always within the confines of their homes. School is a refuge for them, a place where they may learn and where they can be themselves among friends.

They’re fully aware of the hardships facing them and yet they persevere and endure through it all. In this classroom they could be themselves and act out their creative thoughts. It’s been an honor to be at their side all of these years.

Etsy 

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Young Student + Classroom, Shamli District, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2020

I really do miss this girl and her friends, and have the highest respect for their courage in the midst of indifference and intolerance. Their village is their world, and more exactly their home is their world. Unless they are attending school, they are almost always within the confines of their homes. School is a refuge for them, a place where they may learn and where they can be themselves among friends.

They’re fully aware of the hardships facing them and yet they persevere and endure through it all. In this classroom they could be themselves and act out their creative thoughts. It’s been an honor to be at their side all of these years.

Etsy 

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Sisters + Mountains, Near Zahle, Lebanon, 2019

It’s amazing to see such expressions of friendship on my first visit to a place. One, this is a conservative community. Two, the pictures are being made by a stranger to their camp. Three, I am Lebanese while they are Syrian.

In the end all three points disappeared in the face of true friendship, between themselves and between them and the stranger with the camera. More than Arabic as a common language, it’s the language without words that matters most. 

Here are two girls simply having fun without any concern for the thoughts of others!

Etsy 

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