Photographer Michele Stallo took these portraits between May 2002 and January 2003 as the pressure for war increased. This project is part of the work of Salaam Baghdad which opposes war, of all kinds, in Iraq, and fosters links between Iraq and Italy. We present his pictures here in the context Stallo created them as a silent, powerful reminder of what is actually at stake, of the humans under the bombardment, living among the destruction and the choking fumes of burning oil.
The Iraqis pictured here are not presented as victims, or romantic strangers. They are ordinary and in the way of ordinary working people they are strong. But they are at risk. The question is: what solution to the Iraq crisis will best allow them to get on with the everyday process of being humans?
ABEER ZUHAIR
13 years old
pupil at secondary school
ALIA JUAAD
29 years old
housewife
with
SAMI
2 years old
ABOUS AL-MAFRAGI
81 years old
farmer
HADEEL ABD EL-AZEEZ, 23 years old, student at the Baghdad Academy of Fine Arts
MOHAMMED GHANI
73 years old
sculptor
RAHMH JASSIM
7 years old
primary school pupil
SAAD AL-JUMALLY
53 years old
marble worker
GALIB JAAFER, 77 years old, unemployed
MOHAMMED ALI
35 years old
street vendor
TARIQ AL-OFTLAWI
46 years old
soldier
EMAD OMRAN
20 years old
student at the Baghdad Academy of Fine Arts
UMAR ABD AL-HADI, 9 years old, shoeshine boy
