honorable mention
JM Lopez spain
title
THOSE WHO SAVE LIVES
One day Al-Assad’s Army destroyed a whole block with a Scud missile in the neighborhood of Ard Al-Hamra killing a lot of people trapped under rubble because there wasn’t any specialized rescue team. That day The White Helmets were created with the aim of being the first ones to arrive and save as many lives as possible. Since then 135 people work in shifts of 24 hours 7 days a week in five different places inside the city of Aleppo.
Equipments are given by a British NGO but they are not enough, sometimes it took them more than one week to recover all the bodies under the rubble because it is something almost impossible to do with the tools they have, even so they continue on the front line trying to save as many lives as possible although the number of lost souls is higher. The dramatic situation in Aleppo remains silenced. There is no interest in telling what happens here, Syria is not trendy.
After studying Photography at the School of Arts of Oviedo (Spain) I was working as a staff photographer for eleven years in “La Cronica de Leon”, a local newspaper of my city, until 2009.
I have worked documenting issues in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Iran, Kosovo, Haiti, Guatemala, Nagorno-Karabakh, Ukraine, Venezuela, and DR Congo among others. During the last two years I have been covering the Syrian war, South Sudan conflict, Somalia and Iraq as a regular contributor for Agence France-Presse (AFP).
My work have been shown in both individual and collective exhibitions and published in the most important media around the world such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, El País, Der Spiegel and L’espresso among others.
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entry description
The new death threat in Aleppo comes from the sky in the shape of barrels full of TNT. They are launched from helicopters of the regime and they can reduce a building of five floors to rubble and dust. These “home-made bombs” are cheaper than a missile or a conventional rocket but their destructive power is much higher. With a daily average of more than 25 barrel bombs, the city of Aleppo pays the price for so much cruelty and destruction with collapsed buildings, debris and casualties.One day Al-Assad’s Army destroyed a whole block with a Scud missile in the neighborhood of Ard Al-Hamra killing a lot of people trapped under rubble because there wasn’t any specialized rescue team. That day The White Helmets were created with the aim of being the first ones to arrive and save as many lives as possible. Since then 135 people work in shifts of 24 hours 7 days a week in five different places inside the city of Aleppo.
Equipments are given by a British NGO but they are not enough, sometimes it took them more than one week to recover all the bodies under the rubble because it is something almost impossible to do with the tools they have, even so they continue on the front line trying to save as many lives as possible although the number of lost souls is higher. The dramatic situation in Aleppo remains silenced. There is no interest in telling what happens here, Syria is not trendy.
about the photographer
I am an independent Spanish photographer who is focused on issues having to do with social conflicts and injustice in the world and I would like to think that my work can help to improve lives of the people who I photograph.After studying Photography at the School of Arts of Oviedo (Spain) I was working as a staff photographer for eleven years in “La Cronica de Leon”, a local newspaper of my city, until 2009.
I have worked documenting issues in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Iran, Kosovo, Haiti, Guatemala, Nagorno-Karabakh, Ukraine, Venezuela, and DR Congo among others. During the last two years I have been covering the Syrian war, South Sudan conflict, Somalia and Iraq as a regular contributor for Agence France-Presse (AFP).
My work have been shown in both individual and collective exhibitions and published in the most important media around the world such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, El País, Der Spiegel and L’espresso among others.
back to gallery