The ongoing war in Syria has demolished many parts of the city of Aleppo. One morning, Syrian photographer Issa Touma found the remains of a collection of negatives and prints from a photo studio. It was the start of Studio Aleppo: a project that presents these images in order to honour the lost to remember a society that has fallen into pieces.
But first of all, Studio Aleppo is a pop-up photo studio, where citizens of the city where the project is on display are invited to have their portrait taken by a prominent local photographer. Refugees who have just arrived in this city are invited to do the same.
The first exhibition and photo studio will take place at Unseen, the international photo festival and fair from 16 – 25 September in Amsterdam. The renowned Dutch portrait photographer Koos Breukel photographs (new) citizens of Amsterdam during the first weekend in Felix Meritis. On the course of the week, the photos are printed and exhibited.
Studio Aleppo is an initiative of Paradox, carried out in collaboration with Unseen Photo Festival, Felix Meritis, Streets of the World, De Asielzoekmachine, Issa Touma / Art Camping, Z_lab, Vluchtelingenwerk en Spaarndammerburen.
About Studio Aleppo
The ongoing war in Syria has demolished major parts of the city of Aleppo. One morning, Syrian photographer Issa Touma found the remains of a collection of photos from a photo studio in Bawabet Al Qassab street. Studio Aleppo presents these images and is at the same time a pop-up photo studio, where citizens and refugees are invited to have their portrait taken by a prominent local photographer.
The photos are added to an evolving collection and will be displayed in a portrait gallery and on the website www.studioaleppo.eu. With this continuously expanding collection, the project aims to stimulate a feeling of recognition and inclusion, providing a new framework for people whose society has collapsed.
