SITUATION #25

In Vanishing Syria, which revolves around the current refugee crisis, Rudolph Jula approaches the contradictory realities of a vanishing Syria as a travel writer who also takes photographs. Just a few years ago he travelled across the country in all its beauty; a beauty that no longer exists and by all likelihood will not exist in the near future. Jula’s visual universe is informed by memories of places that are still intact and encounters with open-minded people. Many of them are now fleeing, carrying with them memories of different kinds, along with their few belongings.

Vanishing Syria follows tracks and traces – in Jula’s memories, in the encounters he made at the Syrian border, in the midst of the historical caesura of the European refugee policy, and in countries where Syrian refugees have arrived, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A life in transit. Poetically composed, Jula’s collected impressions set themselves apart from the one-dimensional news streams and create new photographic images and stories structured along six extensive chapters.

Vanishing Syria developed over the course of two months, from 5 December 2015 through 31 January 2016 as an online photo-essay and a dynamic exhibition installation.

Access Vanishing Syria online here: bit.ly/vanishingsyria

More about Rudolph Jula's travel stories from the Near and Middle East: editionpatrickfrey.com/en/books/slow-travelling-auf-dem-weg-nach-damaskus-rudolph-jula