Reto Albertalli

Safa is 12. She was born in Syria. She was doing well, went to school, had friends. Then came the bombs. She escaped the horrors of the war in Idlib two years ago, leaving everything behind, for the terrifying unknown. Together with her mother and some relatives, she now lives in one of the refugee camps on the Lebanese border to Syria, in the Bekaa Valley, where she can finally sleep at night. Still not knowing where here father is. She has dreams: of becoming a teacher, back home, once the war is over.

This photographic triptych, summarizing the essence of a larger reportage, is built around her compelling color portrait.
We are trapped in her genuine compelling look, as we prefer not to face the facts. As we are refusing the idea that “they” are “me”.
Two black and white pictures situate the context in which she lives, represented so as a distant information.
The tents in the Lebanese camps are made out of old billboards, and the messages sometimes clash cynically with reality. On her left, representing some of those who are in charge and somehow the world she left behind, are represented some leaders of middle eastern countries; while on the right is the world she dreams of. Reminding us with force the reality she is in. Home to her dreams.

(more details in each picture's digital iptc metadata)