Special Interview With GILI YAARI
By Omri Shomer
“Stranded in Greece
Greece Refugee Crisis”
Gili Yaari on Lens Magazine Issue 39 “Stranded in Greece – Greece Refugee Crisis”
The Syrian refugee crisis needs to be told to the world. Greece, a bottleneck through which refugees escape for their lives from Syria and neighboring countries – approximately 800,000 have escaped thus far. There is no clear future for these people and they themselves have no idea what tomorrow will bring.
Gili Yaari, a world-renowned press photographer, was there to cover it.
His work has been published in newspapers such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, The Guardian, among many others. Through his work, which focuses primarily on humanitarian and social issues, among them Israel-related matters, he now also gives us a more in-depth look at the current crisis in Greece. The following is the series of his touching photos –
“Stranded in Greece – Greece Refugee Crisis” has even been nominated for the Meitar Photography Award and was displayed at the Israeli photography festival.
The series covers many questions that aren’t always easy or even possible to answer, questions about humanity, severance, loneliness, and longing.
Greece Refugee Crisis. Gili Yaari on Lens Magazine Issue 39 “Stranded in Greece – Greece Refugee Crisis”
Gili Yaari Interview on Lens Magazine Issue 39
Gili, before we get started, perhaps you could tell us a little about yourself, about your home, your family, and about how you got into newsworthy and documentary photography?
I was born and raised in Beit Shemesh, a neglected suburb of Jerusalem in those days. My parents, Holocaust survivors, emigrated to Israel from Hungary, and they integrated into society, worked for their living and managed to raise a family. But it was only when I grew up that I understood I was raised in a house where there was no happiness, where fear and survival were a driving force.
Growing up in such environment made me especially sensitive to the emotional condition of others – be it happiness, pain or despair. This has become one of my most important tools as a photographer. It’s the most important driver for me to focus on photographing people.
What would you say are the connecting dots between your personal background and the story of the refugee crisis in Greece?
I was very attracted to documenting the refugees` crisis because it is the one of the biggest stories of our generation, but also as the child of emigrants who left everything behind. At many points, during working on this project, I was trying to imagine my father and grandparents in this situation many years back.
Greece Refugee Crisis by Gili Yaari. Special Interview by Omri Shomer.
Describe for us a little bit this special experience where you stand in the middle of it all and take pictures – what do you feel during these moments? What are the smells like? Are there any particular stories that have been ingrained in your heart?
While working on such a project you experience many powerful moments. Spending many days in the same location gives you the chance to meet people and hear their stories. The strongest impression is of so many helpless people. People who lost everything they had in one single day and are now struggling for the very basic needs like food and shelter from the rain. Meeting with parents trying to take care of their children touched me most.
In the old train station of Idomeni I met a Syrian physician who told me how he lost his wife soon after their marriage and how he had to run from one city to another on his way to Turkey and then to Greece. Each of the refugees has his story of the life he used to have and the people he lost.
Why did you decide to publish this series, specifically in black and white?
I wanted my pictures to concentrate on emotions and information. I felt that colors, in this specific story don’t add to that. From a technical perspective, I was shooting in many different places over Greece, in very different lighting conditions. Using Black & White helped me achieve a visually more coherent body of work.’
Greece Refugee Crisis by Gili Yaari. Special Interview with Gili Yaari
Have you considered publishing this series in color, or did you initially plan out to photograph everything in black and white? Would you say that any topic that touches upon humanitarian issues is best expressed in black and white?
Actually, I am always shooting RAW format which contains colors. In this project, I knew from the very beginning that It will be published in B&W. When you target for B&W you need to look at the scenes with ‘B&W eyes’ and take that in consideration when shooting. For example, colors that are very dominant in some scenes will not necessarily remain such.
I would not say at all that any humanitarian issue should be shoot in B&W. It depends on many factors and should be considered independently for each story. Obviously, it depends a lot on the photographer, his style, and the photographic language that feels right for him.
In conclusion, after this series has been published throughout the world, it also reached your own home field – Israel. Does the Israeli observer, in your view, bring a different way of looking at the situation? What kind of feelings did this series arouse at home?
I couldn’t see any different reaction from the Israeli observers. Israelis, like all media consumers around the world, are touched by the strong authentic documentary, but at the same are getting used to that ‘distant’ stories about the refugee crisis.
Do you feel that something has changed within you since you returned home from this project? If yes, what?
Yes, absolutely. It reminds you that nothing should be taken for granted, that having dinner with your family in your warm house is something that so many people don’t have. It gave me a chance to meet many people that as an Israeli I could never have met and hear their stories and what they are going through. You become a witness to one of the biggest stories of our generation.
Read the full Interview on Lens Magazine #39
