In September, 2019 photographers from
Saint-Petersburg, Russia Anton Ivanov and
Alexander Vasilyev came to Syria in order to
see with their own eyes how people of the
country, which has been torn apart by
destructive and violent conflict since 2011, do
all their best to come back to peaceful life.
During the expedition photographers visited
places, which recently have been right in the
centre of military action as well as areas that,
fortunately, have not been touched by the
war. They have made a number of unique
shots in Scalbia, Kham, Aleppo, Homs,
Sednayah, Maaloula, fully destroyed during
the war city of Karnaz and in Damascus, its
suburbs as well as other parts of Syria.
Photographers passed Syria by car. They took
roundabout roads in order to avoid Idlib and
Deir ez-Zor, where fightings still take place,
and had numerous conversations with local
citizens; both those whose fates were
disfigured by a lasting military conflict and
those who were lucky enough to escape, but
still had to face destructive ramifications of
war. And photographers from Saint-
Petersburg saw something more than just
tragedy in those people, whether it was a
disabled sapper from Scalbia or a girl named
Sidra from Aleppo, who has to walk on
prosthetics. This terrible disaster is hard to be
ignored or hidden. It may be surprising, but
Russian photographers could see in this
people and, what is more, fix on the film the
very powerful feeling of hope for possible
return to peaceful life.
