A century of war survivors in photos
The book "I am Alive: How Children Survived a Century of Wars" by photographer Dominic Nahr portrays conflict survivors and marks the 100th anniversary of Save the Children.
Amal*, Lebanon
Amal (*not her real name), left the besieged city of Homs in Syria at the age of seven. Now living in a refugee camp in Lebanon, the 11-year-old is a rather sad and quiet girl. Yet she radiated unexpected confidence in this portrait by photographer Dominic Nahr. He was so impressed by her inner strength in this shot that it inspired an entire photo series on conflict survivors.
Evelyne Brix, Germany
The book project, titled "I am alive," marks the 100th anniversary of the organization Save the Children, which was created in the UK in 1919 to assist children affected by war. It features portraits of people who survived a conflict of every decade of the past century. Pictured here is Evelyne Brix, who still remembers the meals provided by the organization in 1946 in Berlin. She was then 14.
Vanessa Ntakirutimana, Rwanda
Vanessa was five years old when the Tutsis killed around one million people within 100 days in Rwanda in 1994. She managed to flee with her mother and her two siblings, but they lost each other during the escape. Despite a search launched by Save the Children, her parents were never found. The scars of this trauma could still be felt in her gaze, said photographer Dominic Nahr.
Jose David Rios*, Columbia
Along with portraits by Dominic Nahr, the book combines photos of the time of the conflicts. Old polaroids often helped to find people who were part of Save the Children programs as children. Portrayed right is Colombian Jose David Rios (name changed to protect his identity), 17, with his friends. At the age of 9, he was injured in a crossfire between the FARC rebel army and government troops.
Afghanistan
Along with the portraits of the 11 conflict survivors, Dominic Nahr also photographed various landscapes and everyday life situations. Negatives of selected series of photos alternate with color shots to evoke the idea that the conflict took place in the past, but nevertheless still leaves its mark today.
Erich Karl, Germany
The greatest challenge to complete the series was to find a survivor of World War I, since that's when Save the Children was initially created to help the children who were starving in Germany and Austria-Hungary at the time. And an actual eyewitness was found: Erich Karl, who is turning 107 this year, still remembers the hot chocolate he received from a feeding program in 1919.
Rajiya*, Bangladesh
The book "I am Alive - How Children Survived a Century of Wars" presents the stories of 10 individuals who survived the wars of the past century, plus one "baby of hope": Rajiya is one of the 119 babies who were born between July 2018 and May 2019 in a Save the Children refugee camp for the Rohingya who fled Myanmar. Still today, an estimated 415 million children are growing up in war zones.