Jaber Al Azmeh
Photographer Jaber Al Azmeh’s work focuses on the Syrian revolution and its effect on the social landscape of the country. He documents the passionate spirit of the revolution since its onset and demonstrates that, “All Syrians, no matter where they come from, what religion they have, and what they do, are working together to help this revolution, and help Syria reach its freedom.” For example, in 2014 Al Azmeh started to photograph people individually in both public and private areas, in Damascus and abroad, holding a copy of the Al Baath Newspaper, an important yet flawed symbol of the Syrian government. Each copy of the newspaper was adorned with a message written by the individual such as, “Nothing will stop us. We are coming back home,” “Happiness is coming to our streets and homes,” or simply, “Freedom.” This project resulted in
Resurrection
, a group of 51 portraits of ordinary Syrians and their hope for a country ravaged by war. Al Azmeh has also created portraits of Syrians that are mysteriously lacking in human content. Instead, their main subjects consist of empty rusting oil barrels, derelict buildings and walls, tires, abandoned cars; a junkyard utopia. Through substituting inanimate objects with …
Photographer Jaber Al Azmeh’s work focuses on the Syrian revolution and its effect on the social landscape of the country. He documents the passionate spirit of the revolution since its onset and demonstrates that, “All Syrians, no matter where they come from, what religion they have, and what they do, are working together to help this revolution, and help Syria reach its freedom.” For example, in 2014 Al Azmeh started to photograph people individually in both public and private areas, in Damascus and abroad, holding a copy of the Al Baath Newspaper, an important yet flawed symbol of the Syrian government. Each copy of the newspaper was adorned with a message written by the individual such as, “Nothing will stop us. We are coming back home,” “Happiness is coming to our streets and homes,” or simply, “Freedom.” This project resulted in
Resurrection
, a group of 51 portraits of ordinary Syrians and their hope for a country ravaged by war. Al Azmeh has also created portraits of Syrians that are mysteriously lacking in human content. Instead, their main subjects consist of empty rusting oil barrels, derelict buildings and walls, tires, abandoned cars; a junkyard utopia. Through substituting inanimate objects with the human being, the photographs investigate the intensely intimate stories of the people who passed through his “frame.”
Al Azmeh has had solo exhibitions at Atassi Gallery in Damascus and Green Art Gallery in Dubai. His work has also been included in group exhibitions at the Institut des Cultures d’Islam in Paris, Forum Factory in Berlin, Institut Du Monde Arabe in Paris, and Katara Art Center in Doha, among other venues.
Courtesy of Green Art Gallery
Staatliche Museum, Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, Germany
Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
