Inside the heaving refugee camp called Shatila, - the camp was originally built for 3,000 Palestinian’s in 1949, but is currently home for about 26,000 refugees, with more trickling in every day. Electricity is intermittent at best, the salty water that runs through the pipes is not useable, parents struggle, having a lack of work, or if lucky enough to have work, only earn the lowest of wages. Parents are forced to send their children to work instead of to school, to play and laugh with friends. These children are in risk of becoming a ‘lost generation’.
The hope a human has to eventually find safety is what drives us to continue on, the children refugees however must find this hope and hold onto it in the midst of grief, loss, separation of loved ones, uncertainty about their futures. These children, these young men and women, they have strength that does not compare.
In early 2017, I spent two long but utterly rewarding months volunteering in that “heaving refugee camp called Shatila”. Over the time I became very close with about 60 of young Syrian girls, all between the ages of 12-22. I spent hours with them daily, teaching them the basics of creative photography, styling, makeup, and more (always focusing on developing their own ideas and visions). Eventually we put our learned skills into practice: creating a magical photo studio in a tiny classroom.
What if the models aren’t who you think they are?
‘Unseen: Revealing a lost generation’ is a series of photographs documenting teenage female Syrian refugees, living in Shatila camp, Lebanon, as the girls they are; silly, creative, playful, shy, brave, confused, dreamers. Each one a unique character with hopes and ambitions for a better future.
