Visual Activism & The Middle East/Contextual & Personal View

The news has been displaying what we already know about the war in Syria and, in fact, any conflict in the Middle East, insofar as it resorts to familiar forms of news reportage. Typically, this can be a stream of constant violent war imagery, which in turn creates a distance between the viewer and the tragedy itself, thus producing a feeling of detachment and indifference - the familiar ‘compassion fatigue'. Being a Syrian artist and researcher living in the UK, and having visited Syria in the time of war, allowed me to demonstrate in this paper; a counter-point to the mainstream way of representing the Syrian war. This was brought to light by photography and moving image examples of hidden tales of the war. Examples of my work were also brought to discussion. The display and analysis of personal and unique examples helped me argue against the unethical constant use of arbitrary violent imagery every time we talk about war. In taking a personal and domestic perspective and looking through the eyes of those whom are living the everyday life of the conflict, photography and moving image practice became a true way of communicating the unspeakable. While also standing as a resistance symbol in the face of war, by both the image maker and participant. In following this way, I might have also succeeded in initiating a compassionate response in the viewer and in engaging their sympathy instead of their anger or total dispassion.