Spotlight: A Bird in Hand


A Palestinian child surrounded by other children palms a small bird in the Shati Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip, 1996. (Photographer: Roger LeMoyne)

What caught my eye before the bird was the V-for-victory sign that takes center stage. Smiling and unworried children, the power pose that is the hand sign, the feat of capturing a small bird with small hands, the background graffiti, the graininess, the blur — to me, these are all signs of strength and grit despite the many efforts to dull and even eliminate life.

Roger LeMoyne is a Canadian freelance photographer whose work has mainly centered civilians impacted by conflict.