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Hall of Fame
Survival, hope and future
Documentary 26th July, 2018
Exile Voices, an initiative by Reza Visual Academy, empowers underprivileged children to become their own storywriters. Amidst war, conflict, the calling to religion and community, youth show their reality of daily life within a refugee camp. Exile Voices trains youth in the art of photography to share their stories of hope and adversity from their own perspective.
Reza, a committed photojournalist and humanitarian, has dedicated his life to helping our worlds most vulnerable communities. His projects prove that the universal language of image can be a catalyst for social change.
These photographs were taken by children from refugee camps in Iraqi Kurdistan under Reza Visual Academy. Exile Voices, a project which began in 2013, at the Kawergosk refugee camp​,​ continues to host three weekly workshops in ​P​hotography, Photoshop, and English. Each student is equipped with their own professional camera and trained by local photographers who are all supported and advised by Reza.
© Amama Husein shows us the daily life at the Kawergosk refugee camp; despite the adversity they face, the children continue to play and live.
© Maryam Husein takes a picture of a marriage taking place at the Kawergosk refugee camp. Despite the precarious conditions of their daily lives, happy events such as births and weddings still animate life within the camp.
© Maryam Husein captures a moment of tenderness between a young mother and her child who is sleeping in a traditional cradle. Life goes on at the Kawergosk camp.
© Solin Qasem captures a woman busy making bread at the Kawergosk refugee camp.
© Solin Qasem ​ ​captures one of the incongruities of the life in the​ ​refugee camp. The precarious tents - their makeshift homes - contrast with the television screen standing in pride of place,​ ​the "living room", under the tents of the Kawergosk refugee camp.
© Mohammad Salah​ ​ ​photographs a celebration at​​ ​the​ ​Kawergosk refugee camp.
© Mohammad Salah photographs a celebration at the entrance of the Kawergosk refugee camp.
© Amar Abdulah was 11 when he photographed this frame. It’s a shadow of a heart formed with hands.
© Amar Abdulah captured this father playing with his son and tossing him into the air at Kawergosk refugee camp.
© Nalin Bashar was 10 when she captured a group of refugees sitting among the rare bits of greenery overlooking the Kawergosk refugee camp.