Photo by Ahmad Mehidi
14 Jul 2012 – Deir Elzor
Click on the image to view a slideshow of photographes by Ahmad Mehidi
A few minutes stood between Ahmad and his family in Deir Ezzor as there were not any major events on the way. At least, this is what Ahmad believed at the time. However, the few metres turned into days of waiting, and the few moments expanded because of one picture. “On 26 September 2012, I headed to meet my family in a Syrian regime’s controlled area”, Ahmad says, “but the Republican Guards broke into the area followed by unexpected bombardment, so, I grabbed my camera and went to shoot”, he continues. Ahmad shoots a picture of armed opposition fighters, with a line of smoke coming from behind a building in the background.
Taken by enthusiasm, Ahmad keeps capturing all the details with his camera. He follows the fighters until the clashes conclude, and then, he goes to the hospital, where the regime’s snipers are overlooking the area, to continue shooting there. “I stayed there for three days, during which I tried in vain to find out what happened to my family. I thought that if I hadn’t stopped to take that photo I would have had been with them already. Yet, I managed to reach them and find out that they were safe. However, their escaping and displacement journey began the moment I arrived”.
Ahmad’s camera is glued to him. He never leaves it behind, not even at night when he can rarely find an exceptional thing to shoot. “It’s like my pack of cigarettes and mobile phone. I always have it on me.”
The picture of his town in which clouds of smoke spur from behind the buildings after the bombardment was Ahmad’s first picture. Yet, that picture was not enough for him to make a decision of being a photographer. His preference was videography. “I used to become highly emotional and get affected by what I was filming whether because of what was happening or because of the outcome. Because of that, my voice used to grow higher while commenting on the piece”, he says.
His preference of videography kept taking over until he took a picture of a group of children gathering around a bombshell in their neighbourhood while holding their hands up waving with a victory sign and smiling. The photo became viral on social media networks. “I didn’t want to take a picture of kids with a bombshell and I was on a hurry, but they insisted and I gave in. That picture sparked my real interest in photography and I started to give it more attention and more time.”
The picture that altered his path was of two young men walking through the deserted and astonishingly destroyed city. “It was published on “Lens of a Young Deri” Facebook page and was shared about 2000 times. I was happy to see that the photo delivered the message I wanted to send and motivated me to make my decision of becoming a photographer.”
Before the Syrian revolution, Ahmad was a university student. He continued studying until the Free Syrian Army (FSA) arrived to the city which was bombarded shortly afterwards. “The demonstrations seized to exist, so I decided to arm myself with a camera as I never believed in weapons and violence. My main concern was to tell the story to the world. I started shooting whatever and whomever I see; martyrs, injured civilians, destroyed buildings, and empty streets”, he says. “My connection to the revolution came through my camera. I wanted to document what was happening in my city, Deir Ezzor, and try to make its voice heard. Therefore, I started developing my techniques through reading and practice. I used to go and shoot the same shot over and over for a week to have the picture I wanted.”
Ahmad has a strong connection with his pictures. On the one hand, he does not even know why they strike him. The picture of the destroyed home with the window frame dangling in the space is an example. On the other hand, some pictures have physical or emotional memory, like the picture of the destroyed church which he took last year. “I was photographing in a dangerous snipers zone, and my back was injured, close to the barrels that appear in the picture. Yet, it was a minor injury and I went back a few days later to take a photo of the church once more.”
Ahmad thinks that some people hate his job and hold him responsible for being targeted by bombardment. Yet, others take him around to show him a destroyed place to take pictures of the area and the people. However, while his courage grow bigger every time he shoots a good picture, he feels frustrated by what he could not capture, “I feel frustrated when I cannot capture the moment a bomb is dropped and the people fleeing the area.” Still, that same frustration prompts him to question his motives, “Why am I taking pictures? I feel trapped in a coil by this question, which makes me think of myself as an opportunist who is waiting for the sufferings of others to take a beautiful picture.”
However, Ahmad does not standstill and photograph when the bombardment becomes heavier causing more casualties as he rushes to help, but when the situation calms down he thinks of how a picture of that situation would have been, “maybe it would have been an expressive picture”. Yet, that thought spurs back his ethical dilemma, especially when he is at a martyr’s funeral, “I think it’s an act of audacity to shoot at this time. Still, I feel I am used now to those images. Maybe I don’t have any feelings anymore.”
All rights to the photographs belong to Ahmad Mehidi. Please contact him via his Facebook account for terms of use.
Tagged: Home Page, Home Page 3
