This is Syrian #freelance photographer Msallam Abd Albaset. Today he’ll be the first freelancer in this week’s #WPFD18 series to share photos from his workplace: Eastern Ghouta, #Syria.
هذا هو المصور السوري المستقل مسلم عبد الباسط. اليوم ، سيكون أول صحفي حر في سلسلة #WPFD18 هذا الأسبوع لمشاركة الصور من مكان عمله: الغوطة الشرقية.
"A difficult day for me as a news photographer was 4th April 2017. An air raid targeted my neighbours’ house. In the very first moments of the bombing, I was completely unable to photograph anything..." [1/2]
"I could not document the scene of destruction and the remaining family members of my neighbours. In this picture, young Ala’a Khamis reaches out his hand for a second, watching his mother emerge from under the rubble." [2/2]
٤ابريل ٢٠١٧ كان يوم عصيب بنسبة لي كمصور صحفي ،تم استهدف بغارة جوية بيت جيراني بالقرب من منزلي،في وقتها شهدت اللحظات الاولى من القصف وقفت عاجز تمام بين التصوير والتوثيق وبين مشهد الدمار ومن تبقى من جيراني .في هذه الصورة الشاب علاء خميس يمد يده للحظة مشاهدة امه تخرج من تحت الانقاض
“A demonstration on 18 March 2016 commemorated the Syrian revolution in the city of Saqba, near the Martyrs' Cemetery of the Revolution. The photograph embodies the spirit of continuity and represents, for me, the attainment of freedom and dignity.”
في مدينة سقبا بالقرب من مقبرة الشهداء ،تجسد الصورة روح الاستمرار
"Of all my photos, this particular picture is closest to my heart. This was my home, where I lived for many years under the siege of #Ghouta. The photo shows my mother making bread for us, while my aunt helped her..." [1/2]
"Now I’ve been forced away far from home, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to return in the future - to be able to go home and sit between the trees and stone." [2/2]
هذه الصورة بالتحديد هي الأقرب على قلبي من كل شيء،هناك بيتي حيث عشت سنيين طويلة في ظل الحصار على الغوطة. في هذه الصورة كانت امي تصنع لنا الخبز وكانت تساعدها اختها (خالتي) . خرجت من ذلك المكان مجبر مكره ولا أعلم ان كان بوسعي في المستقبل أن اعود الى ذلك المكان واجلس بين الشجر والحجر
"An unforgettable date for the people of eastern Ghouta is 18th February 2018: a day of death. Ghouta’s residents have experienced displacement and demographic change. The Syrian regime’s military campaign began in this area, with heavy shelling and invasion." [1/3]
“I had previously lost my equipment in a bombing on 16th November, so unfortunately I could not document what happened on 18th February - the bombing, killing and displacement. I made a great effort and on some days I took photos on my mobile phone..." [2/3]
“But I still have sadness in my heart. If I had a camera, I could publish many photos showing how much suffering people endured at the time.” [3/3]
١٨فبراير ٢٠١٨ تاريخ لا ينسى لدى أهل الغوطة الشرقية ، تاريخ الموت والمجازر والقتل، تاريخ التهجير والتغيير الديمغرافي لدى سكان الغوطة. بدأت الحملة العسكرية للنظام السوري على مناطق الغوطة الشرقية بالتزامن مع قصف عنيف على مناطق المدنيين وبدأ الاجتياح العسكري على المنطقة.
تعرضت كل مناطق الغوطة للقصف ومنها مدينة سقبا، سابقا قد خسرت معداتي بسبب القصف بتاريخ ١٦نوفمبر من عام فائت. للاسف لم استطع توثيق ما حصل منذ١٨فبراير من قصف وقتل وتهجير للناس لعدم توفر معدات.
بذلت جهدا كبيرا وقمت بالتوثيق في بعض الأيام عبر جهاز الموبايل واستطعت نشر صورة على الوكالة الفرنسية AFP التي اعمل معها، لكن يبقى الحزن في القلب (لو كان معي كاميرا لاستطعت نشر الكثير من الصور التي توضح حجم المعاناة التي عاشها الناس في ذلك الوقت).
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First up in our #RoryPeckAwards spotlight series is #News finalist Al-Emrun Garjon, a Bangladeshi freelance photojournalist and videographer, shortlisted for his film The Rohingya Crisis [1]
100,000s of Rohingya Muslims have poured into Bangladesh since August 2017, fleeing persecution in the Rakhine province of #Myanmar. Garjon’s footage captures their struggle to survive this long journey in search of safety [2]
From September 2017 to April 2018, Garjon’s daily reports on the mass exodus of Rohingyas showed a deep commitment to covering breaking news and human-interest stories that illustrate human suffering in a new way [3]
The fifth and final freelancer in this week’s #WorldPressFreedomDay series is journalist & photographer Sally Hayden from Ireland, who currently focuses on migration, conflict and humanitarian crises. Here she is photographed [left] while reporting in Burkina Faso in 2014
The photo above was taken by Matus Krcmarik. Across the day we'll be sharing pictures & insights from Sally that give glimpses of her experiences as a #freelancer working internationally. Follow this thread!
"I took this in eastern #Sudan, close to the border with Eritrea, where I met teenagers & children who had fled compulsory, indefinite military service,” Sally said. “This was one of the few times I brought a fixer, as it's impossible to travel alone as a foreign woman in Sudan.”
The 4th freelancer in our #WPFD18 series is Ukrainian photographer Alena Grom. Born in Donetsk, a city controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, Alena fled with her family to live in Kyiv. Her work focuses on children living in conflict zones and refugees in her country
Alena took this photo last spring in Marinka, a badly damaged city on the front-line of the armed conflict in Donbass. “The girl's name is Nastya,” the freelancer said. “She lives with her family, including her little sister, near military positions." [1/4]
“Their whole home is littered with fragments from bombings. While I was shooting, I could hear automatic fire and explosions behind their garden. I was shocked: neither the children nor the parents reacted to the shelling." [2/4]
Day 3 of our #WorldPressFreedomDay series on the working lives of #freelancers worldwide - today we're sharing insights from freelance investigative journalist Mabvuto Banda, who lives and works in Malawi. Follow this thread across the day to hear about his experiences
The climate for journalists in #Malawi has improved over the last 15 years. Nonetheless Mabvuto has been arrested on numerous occasions during his twenty-year career in #journalism. In Malawi, a law still provides for the imprisonment of anyone who 'insults' the head of state.
Mabvuto said of the photo above: “This is me with reporters in the #newsroom. We were working on a story about the growing calls within the ruling party to push the current President to stand down." [1/2]
For the second day of our #WPFD18 series exploring behind the scenes of freelancers at work in regions across the world, we'll be sharing insights from freelance photographer César Rodríguez in Mexico - a country that ranks 147th of 180 on @RSF_inter's World Press Freedom Index
Freelancer César Rodríguez was born in the western Mexican state of Nayarit, where he took this photo: “This was in a living room in a house in Tepic, Nayarit, where a clash between armed civilians and the navy took place." [1/2]
"At least five people died, and it’s believed that other armed civilians escaped. I chose this image because when I see it, it reminds me of places where people are at war – "official" wars – and it reminds me that here in #Mexico we have our own war as well.” [2/2]