Tsawwar… Hannah Arafeh
"I took this photo at a stable in Al-Adawi, Damascus, in September of 2025. I was taken by this gentleman’s tenderness towards his mare, a purebred Arabian. Cigarette in mouth, he kept petting, caressing, and saying sweet things to her – long before I approached with my camera, and long after I retreated. It was clear these two had a connection; I felt lucky just to be an observer. When I developed the roll, of the 16 exposures, I gravitated to this one the most. It wasn’t until some time later that I realised, for all the photos I see of Syrians, seeing Syrian (and Arab) men through a lens of gentleness, softness, and tenderness is rare. I thought about how the Syrian men close to me embody such traits—of gentleness, of care, of generosity—yet photography of Syrian men rarely shows it. I suppose it’s obvious: those qualities don’t sell, they don’t fit the narrative people want from Syria. But this photo says everything quietly, without insisting. And whenever I look at this photo again, I imagine that gentleman, still there, still caressing his mare, still saying sweet things to her."
Hannah Arafeh is a documentary photographer and videographer curious about color, motion, and culture in a changing Damascus.”
Tsawwar is an ongoing visual series in Daftar which explores the stories behind a photograph, taken in the region or by an Arab photographer, written in their own words.
