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A 12-year-old casualty of war recovers in hospital: Alessio Mamo’s best photograph
Photographer Alessio Mamo recalls how he came to photograph Manal, a 12-year-old Iraqi girl recovering from severe burns sustained in a missile explosion in Kirkuk, as part of a project documenting patients at the Médecins Sans Frontières Al-Mowasah hospital in Amman. The portrait, taken while Manal underwent extensive treatment, later won an award at the 2018 World Press Photo prize, and Mamo reflects on how the image continues to resonate given that children remain frequent casualties of ongoing conflicts.
The project, called The Hospital of All the Wars, was made with journalist Marta Bellingreri and involved regular visits to the hospital, which treats patients from Iraq, Gaza, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon. Manal wore a protective mask for around five hours a day to shield her face from light, but Mamo describes her as a lively, sociable girl who remained in touch with him; he visited her in Kirkuk last year, when she was 19. Now a father himself, Mamo says the subject feels increasingly urgent, and he is preparing to travel to Beirut with the Guardian to photograph children harmed in the ongoing war, many of whom have been wounded in recent Israeli attacks.
In short
- Photographer recalls his award-winning portrait of injured Iraqi girl Manal
- Image taken at MSF hospital in Amman during long-term treatment for burns
- Mamo now planning similar project on children harmed in Beirut conflict
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Documenting warfare's impact on children serves an essential journalistic purpose that maintains international accountability. Alessio Mamo's sustained relationship with his subjects—keeping in contact with Manal over years and visiting her as an adult—demonstrates ethical care beyond simple documentation. Without such photographic witness testimony, the world remains ignorant of civilian casualties and their consequences, making it possible for atrocities to continue unattended and unmeasured.
The case against
Photographing vulnerable children in their most traumatised moments raises profound ethical concerns about consent and power imbalance, regardless of the photographer's intentions. Even with ongoing contact, the subjects have experienced severe harm whilst the photographer gains professional recognition and career advancement from their suffering. Such imagery risks serving as 'suffering porn' that generates fleeting awareness without driving meaningful policy change, and can be repurposed in ways subjects never envisioned or fully consented to.
Explained simply
Kirkuk is a city in northern Iraq, where years of conflict have exposed civilians, including children, to explosions and other dangers. People with serious injuries may need specialist care far from home, and hospitals in the region treat patients from several conflict-affected areas.
Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as MSF, is a medical aid organisation that runs services for people caught up in wars and crises. Its Al-Mowasah hospital in Amman, Jordan, treats patients from places including Iraq, Gaza, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.
Photographer Alessio Mamo and journalist Marta Bellingreri documented patients there in a project called The Hospital of All the Wars. Their work shows the long treatment and recovery that severe injuries can involve, and draws attention to the effects of conflict on children and their families.