Photography projects by freelance multimedia maker and photographer Michiel Bles, background photo stories, documentary, reportage

Background story: growing up in the refugee camps of Lebanon

16 January 2018

/ Categories: Background stories / reportage / Photography

Sabra and Shatila refugee camp. Home of massacres in the past. Now a barren place to live. Only a few miles from downtown Beirut
Living conditions in Lebanon's refugee camps are bad. Houses are poorly maintained. Armed violence is day to day business in the camps
Young children are influenced by the arms they see around them
Children have little place to play in camps like Ein el Helweh, Rashidieh and El Buss. All are located in the south of Lebanon, not far from the border Israelian border
Next to Palestinians, Syrians now find a temporary home in Lebanon's refugee camps
In Safe Spaces children find a way to release stress and tension by dance and theatre performances
Dutch NGO War Child organises these activities in close cooperation with local partner organisations
By drawing and writing children and young people have an outlet to cope with their experiences and find a way to temporarily escape the daily pressure they live under
War Child founder Willemijn Verloop visits a creative workshop in Ein el Helweh, one of the most overcrowded refugee camps of Lebanon
Dutch singer Marco Borsato is War Child's goodwill ambassador. In one of the countless alleyways of the Sabra and Shatila camp he experiences the physical limitations of living in a refugee camps
Sports is an essential tool for children to learn to deal with violent experiences, to gain trust again and to learn how to cooperate

Reportage of children living in the Ein el Helweh, Rashidieh and El Buss refugee camps of Lebanon

Project info: Hundreds of thousands Palestinian refugees live in refugee camps in South Lebanon. Ein el Helweh, Rashidieh and El Buss have been the makeshift home of generations of Palestinians who have fled the violence in Gaza and the West Bank. In 2010 and 2012 I visited the camps in Lebanon to document the lives of children living in these dire conditions.

Together with founder of the Dutch NGO War Child Holland and its goodwill ambassador Marco Borsato I interviewed and portrayed children and their parents. The pictures, reportages, background stories and video reports have been and are still used in War Child’s printed media, website, social media and advocacy reports.

Client: War Child

Media: Photography

Languages: –

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Gulu carwash

16 February 2017

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/ Categories: Autonomous / Background stories / reportage / Photography / Street photography

Photo series of a makeshift carwash in Gulu, Northern Uganda

Project info: When the heat of the day leaves town and the sun gets low, men gather at the washing bay in Gulu. At this roadside carwash against a tropical backdrop, cars, trucks and motor bikes get their daily clean-up.

Client: Autonomous

Media: Photography

Languages: –

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Background story: Los Valientes/the braves

10 May 2015

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/ Categories: Background stories / reportage / RNW Media

Background photo stories

Project info: Five brave, aspiring photojournalists from Latin America face major challenges expressing their opinions. Prejudice, intimidation, violence, it’s part of their daily job in Mexico, Venezuela and El Salvador. This long scroll honours these young professional photographers and video reporters.

Client: RNW Media

Media: Photography, webdesign

Watch Los Valientes live

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Photo series: musing on the ferry

1 May 2015

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/ Categories: Autonomous / Background stories / reportage / Photography

Photo series of Amsterdam ferry men

Project info: No less that 80 times Amsterdam ferrymen and women go up and down the IJ canal each shift. Each day, each week. 80 times the same 5 minute passage. 40 times a view on the same quay.

A few meters above the passenger deck, they look down on the cargo disembarking their vessel. A couple of minutes when docked allow for a moment of woolgathering.

When the buzzer sounds, the mesmerizing is over and a new crossing is about to begin.

Is this the most peaceful or the most dreary job in the world? ‘Musing on the ferry’ is a visual quest for the answer to this question.

Client: Autonomous

Media: Photography

Languages: –