Middle East photo archive shows diverse narratives of the region - Insider - INSIDER

Middle East Archive Project header — The Syrian boy scouts (left) and a nurse receiving her credentials at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon (right).

The Middle East Archive Project is a crowd sourced digital photo archive showcasing intimate family photos from the region over the last 100 years.
The archive showcases life in countries such as Syria and Iraq, as well as Arab diaspora communities abroad in regions such as South America.
The photographs tell rare personal perspectives from major historical events such as World War One, the Armenian genocide in the early 1900's, and the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
It also offers a glimpse into what everyday life over the last 100 years has looked like in the Middle East, where people did regular things like got married, celebrated Christmas, and joined the Boy Scouts.
The founder of the project, Darah Ghanem, told Insider that she hopes the archive will help to show a side to the region that is often overlooked by the mainstream media.
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The Middle East Archive project is a photo archive dedicated to showcasing an alternative historical narrative of a region that is infamously misunderstood.

The archive currently exists in the form of a page on Instagram, where people across the region are encouraged to submit their own family photos, with captions detailing dates and the historical context of what the photos show from the perspective of the family member who submitted them.

The page currently has around 90 posts, with the first uploaded just over a year ago, and has already garnered a great deal of support according to the project's founder Darah Ghanem.

Insider spoke to Ghanem, who started the project after realizing while growing up in the Middle East that her history was not readily availble in museums and text books, but hidden away inside suitcases in the form of family heirlooms and photo albums.

"I think family histories are important, especially for our region because for so long our history has been written for us and not by us," she told Insider.

The archive also provides a rare glimpse into what everyday life has looked like in the Middle East over the last 100 years, from the perspective of the people who lived there.

They cite important historical events such as Worl War One, the devastating Armenian genocide the early 1900's, and the 1967 Arab-Israeli war— but through the lens of real life, where people still got married, celebrated Christmas, and joined the boy scouts.

These are the stories that are largely absent from the current history of region, which Ghanem hopes to highlight and make accessible to people around the world through the archive.

2020-02-03 09:00:15Z
https://www.insider.com/middle-east-photo-archive-shows-diverse-narratives-of-the-region-2019-11