Armed with some felt-tip markers and a camera, Robert Fogarty showed up in Zaatari refugee camp last month and asked for two things: a pose, and a letter to the world written on their own skin. For the past three years, this American photographer has has run the Dear World Project, an endearing attempt to connect people through their emotions, from Manhattan to Mumbai. “We will travel the world documenting beautiful, interesting and curious people in our style. Because what we know now is the kid in Manhattan and the man in Mumbai are connected,” he says. These powerful portraits do not plea for help or appeal to pity: they crystallize the thoughts, the memories and the aspirations of those struggling to build up a different dream. “Refugees are not a stereotype of helpless people on aid,” the photographer says. The Project, which landed in Zaatari through a collaboration with We Are People and Care International, has also given a voice to survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and with victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York.
For more information: Dear World Project, Facebook Page