Kurdistan (Iraq)

In the summer of 2022, Lens on Life opened a media lab in the Arbat Refugee camp in partnership with local NGO Kurdistan Save the Children (KSC). The Arbat camp is located close to the city of Sulaymaniyah and is home to roughly 6,000 Kurdish-Syrian refugees who have escaped violence within Kurdish territory in Syria. The media lab hosts ongoing digital workshops and is outfitted with the latest equipment for digital photography, filmmaking, and editing. In-person classes are led year-round by photographer Niga Salam who was born and raised in Sulaymaniyah.

Teacher, Niga Salam @nigsalam

Niga Salam is a photographer and activist based and born in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and is the Lens on Life teacher.  Coming from a strict conservative family, she was determined to broaden her horizons and joined the college of Fine Arts in Sulaymaniyah. Niga's photography covers fundamental topics in society such as gender-related issues, environment and identity. She began her career in journalism through Iraq’s Metrography Agency and during her career has collaborated with international and local organizations such as World Press Photo, Free Press Unlimited, Moving Artists, space 21 and many more. She has participated in international events such as the Moving Artists residency in Spain and the Doc Festival in Kassel, Germany.