Children’s photo exhibit brings plight of Syrian refugees to Washington
UNICEF is partnering with a Lebanese NGO to draw attention to the needs of Syria’s children.
Syria’s refugee children will get a unique chance this weekend to show Washington’s political elite what the world looks like through their own eyes.
The UN children’s agency and a Lebanese nongovernmental organization are putting on an exhibit of photos taken by some 500 children between the ages of 7 and 12 in more than 200 informal settlements throughout Lebanon. For this project, called "Lahza 2" — Arabic for “moment” or “glimpse,” the shots were taken in 2013 and 2014 by disposable cameras made available by UNICEF and ZAKIRA ("memory" in Arabic) in an effort to empower the children and help them overcome the trauma of war.
“The photograph is a truth … so how much more truthful through the eyes of children?” photojournalist and ZAKIRA founder Ramzi Haidar asks in the foreword to a new book of the images.
The exhibit, called Through Their Eyes: Moments Photographed by Syrian Children, premieres Nov. 5 at the White Room DC on 9th Street. It will be open to the public the afternoons of Nov. 7 and 8 as part of this year’s FotoWeekDC.
