The joint exhibition Humanity at War: Reflections, currently showing at Malta Enterprise until July 23, presents viewers with images from six wars through the works of photojournalists Darrin Zammit Lupi and Heidi Levine.

From the current wars in Ukraine and Syria to the ongoing flare ups in Libya, Palestine and Israel, and even the recent wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, the photographs document the impact of war on civilian life.

“Levine’s images capture the horror and brutality of war; the violence, cruelty, depravity and the never-ending saga of losses that throw human beings into despair,” expresses Pamela Baldacchino, the curator of the exhibition.

“Zammit Lupi’s work is mostly presented as a series of black and white photographic images that capture the poignancy of refugees fleeing from Ukraine as they cross the border into Medyka or wait outside the train station in Przemyśl on the Poland-Ukraine border,” she says.

Funds raised from the exhibition will go towards Ukrainian refugees in Malta and the building of ‘Becs’ Junior Secondary school in Ethiopia, in memory of 15-year-old Rebecca Zammit Lupi who died in 2021 from a rare form of cancer.

Speaking to Times of Malta about his collaboration with Levine for the exhibition, Zammit Lupi says that they have been close friends for over a decade. 

“When Malta Enterprise approached me with this project idea, tied to a fundraiser for the school we’re building in Ethiopia in my daughter Rebecca’s memory, it was clear from the start that my going into Ukraine would be extremely complicated, not to say expensive,” he begins.

Logistical issues and restrictions imposed by Maltese health authorities at the time, seeing as Ukraine was then a red zone country, led to Zammit Lupi inviting Levine, an American freelance photojournalist who had been in Ukraine since before the Russian invasion, to participate in the exhibition.

Exhibition views showing photography by Darrin Zammit Lupi and Heidi Levine. Photos: Malta Enterprise

Having produced important work in several war zones, including Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Gaza and others, Zammit Lupi says that this spurred an expansion of the original scope to include these other places of conflict.

“Whatever war zone you’re talking about, the impact on the civilian population keeps repeating itself.  It’s universal,” he says.  

Photojournalism is concerned with giving imagery to history, evolving from a way of documenting the world to a means of communicating it.

“Every photojournalist worth his or her salt is trying to make a difference with their photos.  As they sometime say, the best war photographers are trying to put themselves out of business,” says Zammit Lupi, adding that, though it may be somewhat naive to think that a single picture can change the world, sometimes it really does come close to it.  

The impact on the civilian population keeps repeating itself

Photographs such as Eddie Adams’ picture of the execution of a Vietcong prisoner in 1968, or Nick Ut’s photo of the so-called Napalm girl in 1972, Kevin Carter’s picture during the 1993 famine in Sudan, the BBC’s images of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia are all images that are seared into our collective consciousness, says the photojournalist, adding that these have sparked global responses.  

“More recently, one can think of the images of the mass killings in Bucha in Ukraine (Heidi herself was one of the first photographers to reach the village after the Russians withdrew but we decided not to use any in the exhibition – they’re beyond horrifying). Those really brought out the importance of having independent photographers on the ground.”

Inundated as we are with millions of images on a daily basis, barely anything happens on this planet without it being documented in one way or another, however, Zammit Lupi says that he believes the prime reason why professional photojournalists remains more important than ever comes down to ethics.  

“Professionals are bound by a very strict code, which has become more crucial than ever when it comes to accurately, honestly and truthfully documenting anything. There’s so much fake imagery, propaganda, pictures used out of context, misrepresentation. It’s become difficult to know what’s real and what isn’t.  

Exhibition views showing photography by Darrin Zammit Lupi and Heidi Levine. Photos: Malta Enterprise

“Having images taken by professional photojournalists gives them a stamp of authenticity. The skill, art, composition, visual components that the photographer puts into getting the image are secondary to that, but it’s in those ways that the image becomes memorable,” he concludes.

Josephine Vassallo Parnis, Head of EU Affairs at Malta Enterprise, says the decision taken this year to create an event to support the Ukrainian civilians fleeing because of the war was a natural step.

“To make a change, even if it is a small change, we couldn’t remain idle to what is happening around us,” she says.

Humanity at War: Reflections is showing at Malta Enterprise until July 23, weekdays from 9am-12pm, 6pm-8pm and weekends from 6pm-8pm.