It’s the unending tragedy that’s unfolded before the entire world’s eyes. A new book of photography, A Whole World Blind, by Nish Nalbandian collects the images of Syria’s implosion from the start of its devastating civil war—President Bashar al-Assad’s deadly response to anti-government protesters in 2011. The book captures the disenfranchisement of Syrians through vivid images of their daily life and the devastated spaces they now inhabit. After gathering testimonies, essays, and official reports, and pairing them with his photographs, Nalbandian, an American based in Istanbul, conveys the stories of the quarter-million killed and the 10 million displaced Syrians.
Here, an image of rebel YPG fighters in a damaged garage.
Sheikh Maqsood, Aleppo. The Citadel of Aleppo.
Nish Nalbandian
Weapon preparation in Shaar, Aleppo.
Nish Nalbandian
Man on a stretcher outside a makeshift hospital.
Nish Nalbandian
Syrian men outside a closed shop.
Nish Nalbandian
Maarat al-Numaan, in Idlib. At the time Nalbandian took this picture, the area was controlled by Jamal Marouf’s Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF), but was still contested by Syrian government forces from their Wadi Deif and Hamadiyah bases a few kilometers away. The SRF, which had recently displaced ISIS fighters from the area, was itself displaced by al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al Nusra (JAN) later in 2014. Wadi Deif and Hamadiyah bases were captured by Islamist rebels including JAN and Ahrar ash-Sham in December 2014.
Nish Nalbandian
Children in a classroom in Aleppo province.
Nish Nalbandian
A Free Syrian Army fighter fires a slingshot.
Nish Nalbandian
Martyr’s Cemetery, Aleppo. Ahmed Ibrahim’s brother opened his shroud to allow Nalbandian to photograph him before his burial. Ibrahim, 25 years old, was killed fighting in clashes with Syrian government forces hours earlier.
Nish Nalbandian
A missile flies over Aleppo.
Nish Nalbandian
Ashrafieh, Aleppo. A YPG fighter sprints across an intersection to avoid Syrian government sniper fire. Opposition fighters often placed vehicles like this bus to provide cover and concealment from sniper fire.
Nish Nalbandian
Bustan al Basha, Aleppo.
Nish Nalbandian
