It would be hard not to be moved by the tragedy of Syria, with horrific images of massacres, mainly by the Syrian military or others backing President Bashar al-Assad, and some of the most tragic images are those of the cloth-wrapped bodies of small children. These ‘rows upon rows of dead children in their burial shrounds’ deeply affected the women of Hizb ut-Tahrir, prompting them to organise a march in London “ in solidarity with your sisters in Syria” and to “speak out against the shedding of their blood and that of their families and children.”
And at the front of the march was a small coffin carried by four young men, followed by a group of young girls carrying white bundles representing those small children in their burial shrounds.
This was another occasion when a little extra height was really needed, and fortunately there was a park seat in almost the right place at the start of the march. because that small coffin really needed to be seen from above. I was standing right at the edge of the seat, and ideally it might have been just a little more in front of the coffin.
I’d felt just a little awkward earlier, photographing the women at their pre-march rally. Although none of them objected to being photographed (a few did turn their heads away) I didn’t feel able to go into the crowd as I would have done had I been photographing most other protests. Though in my experience it is has almost always been men who have objected to me photographing Muslim women, and not the women themselves, who have often obviously welcomed it.
Once the march had started it was easier, though again I largely kept a greater distance than at most events, as I think you can see in Hizb ut-Tahrir Women March for Syria. But it could just have been that after replacing the 16-35mm on the D700 with the 70-300mm for pictures like that above I just couldn’t be bothered to change the lens again. I’d decided by then that it was time for me to go home, and only kept taking pictures as I was walking towards Edgware Road station along the same route as the marchers.
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My London Diary : Buildings of London : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage
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