The pictures were taken at the turn of August and September 2012 in Islahiye, Turkey, in a refugee camp near the border with Syria.
According to Emmanuel Levinas, a face can never be fully characterized, never fully depicted. It is something infinite, indefinite element that destroys the unity and peace of our world. Thus, he calls us to talk, to pay attention, to meet face to face. "12 Faces" are stories of cruel and inhuman experiences, recorded in two ways. Written on a sheet of paper and fixed on a large-format photographic film. Syrian refugees in Turkish camps are not always willing to speak, but their attitude, facial expressions and emotions drawn on it do not require commentary and major explanations. Fear, fear, powerlessness, resignation, denial, anger, but also pride and respect are reflected in the face, like in a mirror. Emotions, known only to those who looked at the war in the face.
Filip Ćwik – member of the Napo Images agency and the Napo Foundation. He studied cultural studies at the University of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. In 2011 he was awarded in the prestigious WORLD PRESS PHOTO competition. From 2001 to 2013 he worked as a photographer in the weekly Newsweek Polska, for which he produced over 70 covers, approx. 60 reports from around the world and countless portraits. He publishes in such titles as "Le Monde", "Das Magazine", "International Herald Tribune", "Newsweek", "L'Espresso", "Days Japan", "Guardian", "The Times". In the years 2010-2012 he also taught press photography at the Institute of Journalism at the University of Warsaw.