Brotherhood

Kate Brooks is the only female photographer represented in this virtual exhibition. She took this photograph during a military funeral for Syrian government soldiers at a military hospital in Damascus after a rebel uprising in 2012. In total, 42 men were buried that day. Brooks captures one soldier staring off into the distance, framed by a lone beam of light as his comrades solemnly bow their heads in the background. The row of coffins stretches far into the distance behind him. Feelings of grief and remembrance wash across his face above clasped hands, showing a restrained, physical response to mourning and loss. 

Kate Brooks began working as a photographer at the age of twenty in Russia, and was interested in capturing the after-effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Intrigued by the repercussions of 9/11 and their impact on foreign policy, Brooks moved to the Middle East and has been working around the region as an internationally lauded photographer ever since.