ZORIAH - A PHOTOJOURNALIST AND WAR PHOTOGRAPHER'S BLOG

Gaza - Rocket Attack Survivor

Ahmed sits in bed as his brother massages his head and applies cream to his burns.  Ahmed was walking home from school when a rocket landed near him, removing both legs, one arm, most of his fingers and burned large portions of his body.  Since then he has been in nearly constant pain and relies on his family to eat, go to the bathroom and do the most simple things.  Gaza City, Gaza Strip - 2008

Gaza - After The Rockets

   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.

La Paz, Bolivia - View From the Slums

For those of you who wrote in, curious about what my 100th country was, here it is:  Bolivia.  

This image was taken from the mountains above La Paz in an area that was notoriously a slum for many years.  Since 2006 Bolivia's president has been running a very successful campaign to eradicate poverty, and most slum areas are now improving.

My 100th Country

I just touched down in my 100th country.  I used to have a goal of visiting every country in the world, and as I have gotten older I have decided that cracking 100 is good enough for me.  That being said, in three days I leave for country 101, so who knows.  At this point rest sounds a lot better than travel though!  

Thanks to all of you who have supported me and my work over the years, I could not have done this without a lot of great people along the way.  

My passports, one open the page that holds the visa for my 100th country.