Lynn Alleva Lilley is an American photographer who in 2011 moved with her family to Amman, Jordan. Over three years she photographed Western women who married Jordanians of Palestinian descent, a private zoo, Syrian and Iraqi refugees, bird migration routes, artists, and landscapes. Themes of displacement, entrapment, and adaptation are reflected in the work. The result a profound and moving bookwork - Tender Mint.
Tender
Mint is scheduled to be published by The Eriskay Connection, Breda,
Netherlands in May 2017 pending a successful fundraising campaign.
Lynn says this about the work: I had never lived in the Middle East before so when I moved with my
family to Amman I knew I wanted to explore this unfamiliar world and
ultimately to make a book. Yet there was concern both on an external
level as the war in Syria had just started and a personal one as my
father was ill back home in the US.
Ultimately, over one million refugees from Syria fled to Jordan joining those who fled the Iraq war. This violence and tension in the North put tremendous pressure on the country, yet it remained stable.
For three years I photographed confined places, landscapes, animals and people including Syrian and Iraqi refugees and Jordanians. I was struck by the paradox of beautiful places located in military zones such as a bird observatory located near the border with Israel, the village of Hemma in the north from which you can see Israel and Syria, and Bethany Beyond the Jordan.
The loss of my father in the US brought an urgency to the work. I wondered how those living through war and catastrophic loss were coping, maybe hoping to connect and come to some form of understanding and acceptance of grief. The more I saw and photographed, the more worlds within worlds opened up which, strangely, led to an epiphany in a zoo. I was able to go deeper and look beyond the obvious entrapment of the animals and into strange, beautiful worlds of animals and their environment. I feel that many of the images have an other-wordly, fairytale-like quality to them.
It is interesting now to look at the images and see unexpected relationships among them that, together, make a book.
Book production is expensive. To fund the project Lynn has launched a Kickstarter fundraiser, it's worth checking out HERE - there is more about Tender Mint and if you're moved by the images show your support.
Ultimately, over one million refugees from Syria fled to Jordan joining those who fled the Iraq war. This violence and tension in the North put tremendous pressure on the country, yet it remained stable.
For three years I photographed confined places, landscapes, animals and people including Syrian and Iraqi refugees and Jordanians. I was struck by the paradox of beautiful places located in military zones such as a bird observatory located near the border with Israel, the village of Hemma in the north from which you can see Israel and Syria, and Bethany Beyond the Jordan.
The loss of my father in the US brought an urgency to the work. I wondered how those living through war and catastrophic loss were coping, maybe hoping to connect and come to some form of understanding and acceptance of grief. The more I saw and photographed, the more worlds within worlds opened up which, strangely, led to an epiphany in a zoo. I was able to go deeper and look beyond the obvious entrapment of the animals and into strange, beautiful worlds of animals and their environment. I feel that many of the images have an other-wordly, fairytale-like quality to them.
It is interesting now to look at the images and see unexpected relationships among them that, together, make a book.
Book production is expensive. To fund the project Lynn has launched a Kickstarter fundraiser, it's worth checking out HERE - there is more about Tender Mint and if you're moved by the images show your support.
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