Fouad Hallak

“On December 8, 2024, the Assad regime fell in Syria. After decades of dictatorship and years of intense war, it was a day that, like many Syrians, I never expected to witness.  

I had no hope that I would ever return to my homeland. I left Syria in 2016 because of the regime’s violence and came to the Netherlands seeking refuge. For years, I could not go back. But when the regime fell, I knew I had to return. One month later, I finally did.  

Returning was not just a physical journey; it was an emotional one. I wanted to reconnect with the streets, memories, people, and places from my past. I wanted to see Syria with my own eyes again and to capture it in photographs, but my frames were smaller than that.  

My feelings were mixed. I could not express them in words, but through photographs, I could. They show many emotions, fear, pain, confusion, but also something else: hope. It is not easy to see, and it is not clear why it is there. But people feel it. I felt it too.  

This series of photographs is for anyone who lives under oppression or feels like hope is lost. I want to say that there is always hope, even in the darkest times. And the future is still possible.” – Fouad Hallak