Ahmed was a teenager when he was walking home from school in Gaza City and a stray rocket landed down the street from him. It shredded his limbs and burned through the skin on most of his body. When the ambulance finally came and picked him up, it then ran out of gas on the way to the emergency room, something that is quite common in Gaza where Israel controls the resources that come into the country and fuel shortages are the norm.
Ahmed did survive, minus two legs, one arm and most of his fingers. His family has since become destitute, as caring for him is a full time job. These images were shot about a year after Ahmed sustained his life changing injuries.
Ahmed sits in a wheelchair during rehabilitation therapy in a Gaza hospital.
Unable to move or do much of anything on his own, Ahmed's brother lifts him into a hospital bed for a bi-weekly check-up from doctors.
During physical therapy he learns how to do basic things once again.
At home, Ahmed's family lays photos onto his bed showing him before and after the rocket attack.
The family spends time in their living room. Ahmed's eldest brother, shown in the right portion of the image, has had to quit his job and give up most of the familie's income in order to help his brother get into and out of bed and make it to the bathroom.
Ahmed eats his lunch in bed with the help of his mother.
Ahmed's mother breaks down crying as she watches his brother change the bandages on his amputated limbs.
I shot the images in this story in 2008 and since then have not been able to edit them. It is not unusual actually, about 98 percent of what I have shot in the past few years I have not made public. I just don’t have the time or the mental fortitude to sit in bed at night and pour over the suffering that I snap pictures of during the day.
So, these pictures have lived on my hard drive for the past five years, waiting for the right time to be seen…and I believe that time is now. As I watch the reports of the carnage going on in Gaza and watch light shows over the Gaza skyline on the evening news, I am reminded of people I have met and photographed who will live the rest of their lives like this young man will.
Death tolls are always painful but we need to remember that “injured” means something different in war zones than it means to most of us. My heart and thoughts go out to all of the innocent people who are suffering and I hope that the world is able speak up before too many more are forced to live in situations similar to Ahmed’s.
The moment I heard about the tragedy, I thought about you and where you were and what you were doing. Where you in Gaza again, I wondered and if not, what were the thoughts that were going on your mind?
Somewhere in this post, you mention about the nights and why photographs remain unedited. At times, I feel that you're not too different from someone I deeply love, deeply admire, Don McCullin and somewhere deep within you lies that strange tenderness that divide photographers. Keep the stories coming.
Wishing for peace, everywhere.
Posted by: Soham | July 22, 2014 at 20:44
Zoriah,
May God bless you for your transformative work and for the Light of your presence in this suffering world. Thank you for sharing this now when it is most needed.
Peace be unto you, صلى لكم
Noelle
Posted by: Noelle | July 22, 2014 at 20:58
Thank you for these images. What seems abstract or often abstracted by the 'long shot' of plumes of smoke rising above Gaza is given immediacy with your photographs. The feminist philosopher Judith Butler asks who do we consider human, whose lives do we consider grievable . . . your photographs compel us to ask those questions (if they had to be even asked . . . and yet they do have to be asked).
Posted by: James McCorkle | July 23, 2014 at 04:04
Keep those photographs coming, Zoriah, as we pray for world peace and comfort to those in such unbearable circumstances. God bless you, Eileen Patocka
Posted by: Eileen | July 31, 2014 at 01:15
Zoriah, where are they now?
Posted by: paul | August 06, 2014 at 16:27
Luke 14 The Voice https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2014&version=VOICE;NIV
14 Another Sabbath Day came and Jesus was invited to an official’s home for a meal. This fellow was a leader of the Pharisees, and Jesus was still under close surveillance by them. 2 Jesus noticed a man suffering from a swelling disorder. 3 He questioned the religious scholars and Pharisees.
Jesus: Is it permitted by traditions and the Hebrew Scriptures to heal people on the Sabbath, or is it forbidden?
4 They didn’t reply. Then Jesus healed the man and sent him on his way.
Jesus: 5 Would any single one of you leave his son[a] or even his ox in a well on the Sabbath if he had fallen into it, or would you pull him out immediately?
6 They still didn’t reply.
7 Then He noticed how the guests were jockeying for places of honor at the dinner, so He gave them advice.
Jesus: 8 Whenever someone invites you to a wedding dinner, don’t sit at the head table. Someone more important than you might also have been invited, 9 and your host will have to humiliate you publicly by telling you to give your seat to the other guest and to go find an open seat in the back of the room. 10 Instead, go and sit in the back of the room. Then your host may find you and say, “My friend! Why are you sitting back here? Come up to this table near the front!” Then you will be publicly honored in front of everyone. 11 Listen, if you lift yourself up, you’ll be put down, but if you humble yourself, you’ll be honored.
12 Jesus still wasn’t finished. Now He turned to the host who had invited Him to this gathering.
Jesus: When you host a dinner or banquet, don’t invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors. If you do, they might invite you to a party of their own, and you’ll be repaid for your kindness. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the amputees, the cripples, the blind. 14 Then you’ll be blessed because they can never repay you. Your reward will come from God at the resurrection of the just and good.
Guest: 15 Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!
Jesus: 16 A man once hosted a huge banquet and invited many guests. 17 When the time came, he sent his servant to tell the guests who had agreed to come, “We’re ready! Come now!” 18 But then every single guest began to make excuses. One said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I just bought some land, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.” 19 Another said, “So sorry. I just bought five pairs of oxen. I need to go check them out. Please excuse me.” 20 Another said, “I just got married, so I can’t come.”
21 The servant returned and reported their responses to his master. His master was angry and told the servant, “Go out quickly to the streets and alleys around town and bring the poor, the amputees, the blind, and the cripples.”
22 The servant came back again: “Sir, I’ve done as you said, but there is still more room.” 23 And the host said, “Well then, go out to the highways and hedges and bring in the complete strangers you find there, until my house is completely full. 24 One thing is for sure, not one single person on the original guest list shall enjoy this banquet.”
Jesus continues to challenge Jewish ideas about who will be in the kingdom of God and how the Kingdom will work. Those who have been dishonored on earth will be honored in the Kingdom, and those in positions of economic and religious honor here will be dishonored there. He also challenges individuals to reconsider their personal value systems. They should not honor their own lives and family above Christ, but rather give them up for Him.
25 Great crowds joined Him on His journey, and He turned to them.
Jesus: 26 If any of you come to Me without hating your own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and yes, even your own life, you can’t be My disciple. 27 If you don’t carry your own cross as if to your own execution as you follow Me, you can’t be part of My movement. 28 Just imagine that you want to build a tower. Wouldn’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to be sure you have enough to finish what you start? 29 If you lay the foundation but then can’t afford to finish the tower, everyone will mock you: 30 “Look at that guy who started something that he couldn’t finish!”
31 Or imagine a king gearing up to go to war. Wouldn’t he begin by sitting down with his advisors to determine whether his 10,000 troops could defeat the opponent’s 20,000 troops? 32 If not, he’ll send a peace delegation quickly and negotiate a peace treaty. 33 In the same way, if you want to be My disciple, it will cost you everything. Don’t underestimate that cost!
34 Don’t be like salt that has lost its taste. How can its saltiness be restored? Flavorless salt is absolutely worthless. 35 You can’t even use it as fertilizer, so it’s worth less than manure! Don’t just listen to My words here. Get the deeper meaning.
footnotes 1: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+19:30&version=NIV;VOICE
John 19:30 New International Version (NIV)
30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”(A) With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Cross references:
John 19:30 : Lk 12:50; Jn 4:34; 17:4
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Posted by: pmwfotos | August 10, 2014 at 05:22