AN Iraqi photographer and refugee who now lives in Bangor has shared the challenges of his journey to Northern Ireland in a new exhibition.
Yousif Al Shewali (24) displayed his work at the Sunflower bar in Belfast on Friday, giving an intimate look at his experiences in leaving Iraq to make his way through Europe and the refugee camps in Greece before arriving in the UK.
Ahead of the exhibition, he spoke of arriving at the notorious Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos in 2018.
It was the largest refugee camp in Europe before it was burned down in 2020 and left nearly 13,000 people without shelter.
Surrounded by barbed wire, Human Rights Watch had previously described the it as being like being an open air prison.
I had the pleasure of photographing this 24 year old talented photographer. Yousif Al Shewaili, an Iraqi refugee who documented his journey from Iraq through various camps and onto Belfast. He is showing his work/talk at the @sunflowerpub tonight. @BelfastPhotoFes @PPR_Org pic.twitter.com/2WnRbqzrXB
— Mal McCann (@MalMccann) June 2, 2023
Yousif said the faces, people and stories – both good and bad – he encountered there have made a lasting impression.
“The island wasn't always kind to me, even though I knew my journey to safety would be hard, I had no idea the hardships I would face during my process as well as the extraordinary moments I would experience,” he said.
“The frustration that also remained with me was the powerlessness we all felt on the island, that telling our stories was not in our hands.
“Getting behind the camera has always been an outlet for me, but during my time living in Moria I lost sight of it, I was trying my best to not see anymore, not see the suffering, the pain, and the anger.”
Eventually, he decided to fight back against the situation and document the human experiences of those affected.
“Many people have come to tell the stories, as outsiders looking in. I want to tell the story from the inside; the beautiful, the sad and ugly,” he said.
“A lot of the people you will see in my work are the little people, the most innocent souls waiting for someone to care. We need to make them matter, they need to be seen.
He added: “The others are simply people with stories to tell, with eyes full of hope or desperation. I want to tell our stories to the world, to depict our suffering without taking away from our dignity.
“Show the difficulties of our life and the challenges we are facing to survive without taking away from our strength."
