10.29.2008

Zoriah: Children shot dead in West Bank village

After arriving in Israel I began to hear rumors about two young boys who had been shot to death in the West Bank village of Ni'ilin. I traveled to the village with a translator to meet their families.

It is always difficult to photograph people who have just suffered a terrible loss, but you have to believe in your ability to document their struggle and then present it to the world. You also have to believe in the world's ability to recognize injustice and hopefully move toward change. If nothing ever comes from my work, and from these people's pain, then the situation feels truly hopeless.

In the end, you never feel like you are able to capture the weight and severity of what happened. No matter how hard you try it seems impossible to portray what has happened in a photograph. But you continue to try because it is better to try than to do nothing.

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