ALI NOURALDIN, PALESTINE
GREECE: THE HOUR OF ENCHANTMENT
Night has fallen in Idomeni. A night between further days spent in a state of waiting in uncertainty.
More than 12,000 refugees, mostly from Syria and mostly children and adolescents, are stranded here near the Greek-Macedonian border. Stopped on their way to Germany, the promised land. Volunteers have improvised an open-air cinema to entertain the children with movies. To allow them to escape from the camp’s drab reality and to let their thoughts fly free.
© Ali Nouraldin (laif)
Photographer Ali Nouraldin, born in 1985 in Gaza, currently residing in Cologne and working for various international media, captured this moment of enchantment during a lengthy stay in Idomeni. What he found most touching were the anxious but also hopeful questions the refugees asked him.
A little refugee child, for example, once took him by the hand and listened intently to his description of schools in Germany. Or people lining up for hours to get a map which they could study to find a way north. Full of streets they weren’t allowed to pass. Nouraldin took pictures of children in tents, waiting in line, behind fences and amid puddles in a mud-soaked camp – and this one magical moment: the fascination of being able to forget reality – at least until the closing credits – reflected in their faces.
Curriculum Vitae: Ali Nouraldin (laif)
© Ali Nouraldin (laif)