Show Navigation
All Galleries
Download

Cold Comfort

15 images Created 11 Mar 2015

Loading ()...

  • Bekaa Valley, LEBANON: Mohamad, 14, lost his arm in a rocket strike in Idlib Province, Syria. His two best friends were killed beside him. A piece of shrapnel is lodged near his heart and cannot be removed. He held his remaining hand over his chest, leaving traces of a thermal imprint.
    Cold_Comfort-6.tif
  • Choueifat, LEBANON: Amneh Rafiah, 74, lives with her daughter and seven grandchildren in a cramped basement apartment. They arrived in Lebanon almost a year ago. Two months later, the children's father left, hoping to make it to Europe. His journey was a seven-month odyssey from Lebanon to Algeria, then Libya, where he paid smugglers two thousand dollars to float across the Mediterranean in an overcrowded dinghy. They nearly capsized but made it to Italy, where his remaining money and all of his ID was stolen. He is now in Norway trying to prove that he has is a Syrian refugee with a family to support. In the meantime, his family struggles to afford food, rent and electricity, regularly stretching beyond their budget and being forced to go without food at the end of each month.
    Cold_Comfort-1.tif
  • Aley, Lebanon: Aysam Kwatly's stuffed horse lies on the floor of the illegally constructed rooftop apartment he shares with his mother and two younger sisters. Shortly after arriving in Lebanon from Saaba (outside Damascus) in 2012, Aysam's father lost his mind. He used to  walk around town, his fist raised in the air, cursing Bashar al-Assad and screaming obscenities. Locals made fun of him or beat him up. Eventually, he was hospitalized, where he was diagnosed with an acute neurodegenerative disease. His wife thinks it was the stress of leaving home and being unable to find work to support his family that led to his illness.<br />
<br />
She says that when they speak on the phone, she can’t understand what he is saying - he doesn;t make any sense. Once, he called, asking about their youngest daughter. He claimed to have seen her murdered. He was in an absolute panic. Now, his wife doesn’t answer the phone anymore when he calls.<br />
<br />
Sometimes, Aysam ties the horse’s front legs together, “the way they do in Syria”. He has been deeply affected by the war and especially by his father’s departure back to Syria to receive medical care.
    Cold_Comfort-12.tif
  • Aley, LEBANON: Maamna Al Msalem, 31, with her 11-month old daughter, Raghdaa. Her two older children have not attended school since they left home, and they rarely venture outside, because the local children taunt them for having a mentally ill father. Maamna cannot seek a divorce or remarry. As a single mother with no earning power she faces a very difficult time without additional aid.
    Cold Comfort - Pieta
  • Bekaa Valley, LEBANON: a coal-burning stove is the sole source of heat inside a family's tent in the Bekaa Valley. The walls of the tent are made of plastic tarpaulins from UNHCR. Added insulation comes from heavy fabric that they have added in layers underneath.
    Cold_Comfort-4.tif
  • Bekaa Valley, LEBANON: Syrian refugee children inside a tent after a cold snap.
    Cold_Comfort-9.tif
  • Aley, LEBANON: Aysam Al Msalem, 7 and his sister Maryam, 4 play wargames inside their cold and damp rooftop apartment.
    Cold_Comfort-13.tif
  • Bekaa Valley, LEBANON: A Syrian man with a herniated disc lies under a blanket in his tent most days, trying to recuperate from his injury. His wife says he has not been able to work in weeks.
    Cold_Comfort-7.tif
  • Bekaa Valley, LEBANON: Mahra, Rahma and Mohamad fled their home in Abed Hour, Idlib Province after a rocket strike injured three members of the family.
    Cold_Comfort-5.tif
  • A Syrian refugee keeps pigeons near his tent in a large refugee tented encampment near Zahle. The pigeons are raised for sport. They can be released to fly over the camp but  will always return to their home.
    Cold Comfort - Peace
  • Aley, LEBANON: Maya Rahal, 2 was just 24 days old when she came to Lebanon with her family. She was born in Tadmor, inside Syria. After they arrived, her mother was sick for almost 2 months from nervous exhaustion.
    Cold_Comfort-16.tif
  • Aley, LEBANON: A child's feet radiate warmth after being curled up in her mother's arms.
    Cold_Comfort-10.tif
  • ARAMOUN, LEBANON: This family fled Kabun, a village outside Damascus after protracted bombing forced them to leave the country. They live in a leaky shack in Aramoun, a village in the mountains near Beirut on the property of a Lebanese man who operates a landscaping and water distribution business. Wael, the husband, works there in exchange for shelter and electricity. Their visas in Lebanon have expired and he is unable to seek work without risking prison. They now have three children. Their youngest, Sara, died in Lebanon at 36 days old, probably due to exposure. The father had to pay $2,000 to bury her illegally under a tree in a Palestinian cemetery in Beirut. They told him he would never be able to visit her grave.
    Cold_Comfort-2.tif
  • Aley, LEBANON: A television screen reflects the thermal outlines of this photographer and two members of a family who fled Syria.
    Cold_Comfort-15.tif
  • Aley, LEBANON: Fawaz Rahal, a 75-year old grandfather and retired math teacher is originally from Bab el Drib, Homs in Syria.<br />
<br />
The family left 3 years ago, in 2012. Their house was completely destroyed by a mortar, as was his son's business - a store that sold paint and painter’s supplies. The left everything behind when they fled for Lebanon. All they think about is returning home, but nothing is left for them there anymore.
    Cold_Comfort-14.tif
View: 25 | All
    • Google+
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • More
x

Liam Maloney Photography

  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
  • Motion
  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Instagram