In his beloved city of Damascus, Syrian photojournalist, Hasan Belal, captures daily domestic scenes, confronts the challenges wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic and reflects on humanity's innate need for connection.
Travelling just east of Damascus, in eastern Ghouta, he also chronicles the destruction left by years of war and an urban landscape severely scarred.
We get behind the lens with Hasan, an alumnus of the foundation, to see how he explores the possibilities of photography and showcases the resilience and endurance of the people that his work represents.
-- Play
-- --
It is not easy to cover life and war in Syria, explains Hasan. Freelancers like myself have to take heavy precautions when photographing in the streets of Syria and even in the slums of Damascus. I often find myself taking images stealthily.
Any story that has a political or military angle is difficult to report. After 10 years of conflict, it is still prohibited. However, my work with local and international agencies and NGOs means that I've been able to produce some stories about life after war and have gained access to places that I wouldn't otherwise have gained access to.
My recent work highlights the socio-economic crisis in a post-war Syria through a photographic series on public transportation. For many Syrian citizens, it's the only form of travel that suits their income but with that comes the recurring daily challenge of overcrowding, waiting and trying to reserve a seat on a service bus - this is amid the spread of Covid-19 and in the current framework of international guidelines for social distancing.
The pandemic is making it one of the most difficult times to survive in a country with multi-layered conflicts. Governmental support for people with the virus is almost non-existent and not enough spaces are available in hospitals.
Those who might have been infected or survived the virus are unwilling to appear on camera because of a fear of bullying. This is why I decided on observational street photography to highlight the impact of the virus on daily life and the precautions being taken by Syrians to safely enter the public realm.
The pandemic is making it one of the most difficult times to survive in a country with multi-layered conflicts.
Hasan Belal, Syrian photojournalist Picking up a camera and wondering around isnt an easy or simple task. When you cover a story, you need to be completely ready. You need to understand the area you are visiting, the story you want to tell and why.
I try to focus on two things. Capturing interesting perspectives and keeping safe. I also try to make honest connections with the people I photograph, explaining my motives and what I hope to document and also finding out more about them. When you're open with your subjects and build trust, you often end up capturing very natural, candid moments.
The most important step for any story is the deep involvement and interaction with different groups of society without boundaries. This is what makes photojournalism valuable to me.
Related content
Taking shots:
How our alumni are preserving the pivotal moments of protests in their home countries
Coronavirus: a photo essay
Alumnus, Marco Panzetti, humanises the Covid-19 crisis in Bologna, Italy
Exploring identity through images:
Images in a post-conflict context recorded by emerging photographers
Sara Loane Communications Manager
About: Sara is responsible for the creation and delivery of engaging and effective messages, campaigns, publications and print and digital design concepts that support and promote the foundation.
We get around. Explore our project map
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
16/04/2024
Following a difficult 2023 market for OTT solutions and technologies that saw considerable economic uncertainty, Quickplay chief business officer Paul Pastor sa...
16/04/2024
NEW YORK TV usage dropped by 3% in March compared to February and March Madness helped cable to gain a larger share of TV viewing but overall changes in TV usag...
16/04/2024
Brompton Technology unveils world's most powerful 8K LED video processor, Te...
16/04/2024
Motion Picture Connectivity Company Bit Part Debuts bitbox Remote Camera Control...
16/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting Company holds supporting the community as a high priority a...
16/04/2024
New generative AI tools will enable users of Adobe Premiere Pro to streamline editing all videos, including adding or removing objects in a scene or extending a...
16/04/2024
Moore has led the development effort for over 20 products in the AV space
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 16, 2024
Moore has led the development effo...
16/04/2024
TV 2, a television broadcaster in Norway, has chosen Magnifi, an AI-powered highlight generation platform, to enhance its coverage of football for fans across t...
16/04/2024
FilmLight, best known for its grading system Baselight, has chosen Jigsaw24 Media as the first global and exclusive UK partner for their new product, Nara. The ...
16/04/2024
DPA Microphones introduces its new AIR1 Universal Miniature Fur Windscreen at NAB 2024 (Booth C7307). Intended for quick mounting on round, omnidirectional head...
16/04/2024
If there remains any doubt that the cloud and artificial intelligence are transforming the workflows that drive the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry, Amazon...
16/04/2024
Evan Jacobs, VP Finishing & Stereo at Marvel Studios, cautioned not to downplay the home entertainment environment too much, noting that it's now hard to bu...
16/04/2024
The age of streaming the opportunity for different viewing habits for many. Entire seasons could be binged whenever you had the time to spare and didn't m...
16/04/2024
LAS VEGAS During a press conference at the NAB Show, ARRI unveiled its ALEXA 35 Live - Multicam System, which is designed to bring the cinematic image quality o...
16/04/2024
ROXi announced that it has partnered with Pearl TV and major U.S. broadcasters to deploy ROXi's FastStream-powered interactive TV channels on the broadcaste...
16/04/2024
U.S. Internet households now consume an average 43.5 hours of video per week across all viewing devices. That's an increase of more than six hours in 2020, ...
16/04/2024
Lawo and Waves Audio have announced that the Waves SuperRack LiveBox hardware server being displayed at the 2024 NAB Show is fully compatible with Lawo's mc...
16/04/2024
At the 2024 NAB Show, Riedel Communications has unveiled its expanded RiCapture ingest solutions line with the addition of RiCapture i8, i44, and i84. Complemen...
16/04/2024
Coles enhanced colour separation, adding shape and depth to the characters through the use of a soft highlight and shadow roll off, and embracing the natural te...
16/04/2024
The Prismatic Company Debuts Strategy for New LightWeave Platform for the Creato...
16/04/2024
Avid to Demonstrate Latest Stream of Innovation at NAB Show 2024 to Drive the Op...
16/04/2024
Paramount Plus has ordered a fourth season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and said the fifth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks will be the final one. Season f...
16/04/2024
Sinclair said that it launched Broadspan, a datacasting platform based on the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast technology....
16/04/2024
LAS VEGAS Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, spoke about his bid to acquire Paramount Global at NAB Show April 14. Allen called Para...
16/04/2024
Major station owners are bringing interactivity to broadcast, hoping that will convince consumers particularly younger ones obsessed with TikTok to buy new ...
16/04/2024
Smoke and Mirrors: Monday's episode, 15 April 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South Afric...
16/04/2024
Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 15 April 2024 [video]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African soa...
16/04/2024
Historic: House of Zwide' is the most-watched TV show on e.tvE.tv's fashion telenovela House of Zwide' beat Scandal!' for the first time sinc...
16/04/2024
Tonight on Scandal: Jojo's doing his best to make amends, but Phakamile worr...
16/04/2024
Editor's note: This post is part of our In the NVIDIA Studio series, which c...
16/04/2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Automated and malicious traffic rises for a fifth consecutive year
Bad bots account for 32% of all internet traffic
44% of all...
15/04/2024
(Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
15/04/2024
LONDONDERRY, N.H., April 15, 2024 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) received a $256 million order from the U.S. Army for continued production of the Enhanced N...
15/04/2024
Montreal, Canada - April 15, 2024 - Grass Valley, a pioneer in live production s...
15/04/2024
NEW YORK In a major step forward in the broadcast industry's move to ATSC 3.0, NBCUniversal announced that it is launching personalized broadcast experience...
15/04/2024
LAS VEGAS Ross Video has announced an agreement to acquire Bannister Lake Software (BL Soft), a 31-year old Cambridge, Ontario-based provider of data-driven bro...
15/04/2024
Panasonic has revealed some of its technology that will be used for the broadcast of this summer's Olympic Games and Paralympics in Paris....
15/04/2024
Adobe Previews Breakthrough AI Innovations to Advance Professional Video Workflo...
15/04/2024
Zaxcom NAB Preview - Zaxcom's ZaxConvert Software is Now More Versatile & 10...
15/04/2024
Blackmagic Design Announces New Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton April 15, 2024
0 Comments
Advanced digital film camera in an incredibly versatile des...
15/04/2024
SmallHD's Free PageOS 6 Update Adds Powerful New Capabilities to All Current...
15/04/2024
SiliconCores patented Common Cathode driver chip delivers frame rates of 240 Hz and a refresh rate of 7680Hz, enabling slow motion, multi-camera view and multip...
15/04/2024
The UK-based virtual studio, sports and events graphics company has appointed Naphtali Cave into a newly created role to drive technical innovation and creativi...
15/04/2024
CBS's daytime panel talk show The Talk will end its run with a shortened 15th season, concluding the show in December, CBS confirmed Friday....
15/04/2024
Season four of Cesar Millan: Better Human Better Dog starts on Nat Geo Friday, A...
15/04/2024
In a notable leap forward for broadcasters planning to monetize their NextGen TV broadcasts, Sinclair has announced the launch of its Broadspan datacasting pl...
In his beloved city of Damascus, Syrian photojournalist, Hasan Belal, captures daily domestic scenes, confronts the challenges wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic and reflects on humanity's innate need for connection. 
