A Year of Syria's War Seen Through the Lens of Bassam Khabieh

Each December, I like to finish the year with a focus on a single photographer’s work over the previous 12 months. Several years ago, Bassam Khabieh was an IT administrator working in Damascus, Syria, near his hometown of Douma. Then, the Syrian war began. Soon, Khabieh picked up a camera and returned to Douma—an area controlled by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad—to document the effects of years of shelling and urban warfare. Khabieh’s images often focus on the children still living in the neighborhood, showing fleeting moments of normal life, as well as the horror and struggle amid battle-scarred neighborhoods. Khabieh has worked as a freelancer for Reuters since 2013, giving the rest of the world a window into the ongoing conflict in Syria. His photos gathered here from 2015 are listed in rough chronological order, including two photos from an attack that took place earlier today, December 30.

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