I believed that I already saw all possible reactions to my camera. But I didn’t.
After 17 years, I photographed people laughing, crying, singing or overacting. I took pictures of people who wanted to express their joys and successes, and others who asked to publicize their problems and sorrows. But I didn’t see yet a reaction like the one I saw yesterday in the IDP camp in Juba, South Sudan.
A group of children were playing with the hula hoop in a recreation centre and just when I put the camera in shooting position, a girl covered her ears with a face of anguish.
More than two years of civil war in the country are being a heavy slab for a generation that suffered traumas from a very early age.
A recent survey says that over 60% of the South Sudanese population has suffered the death of a relative due to the conflict. And in some locations, the percentage rises nearly 100%. These figures make understand the reaction of that girl who thought that instead of immortalizing the situation, I was going to cause a mortal situation.
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