A female photojournalist captures care and suffering in postwar societies

PHOTO ESSAY | Kadir van Lohuizen on the photography of Andrea Bruce

Ayat walks along the mountain roads of northern Dagestan, a republic of Russia in the Caucasus in 2011. Ayat is a relatively new convert to Salafism and was visiting her family which is of the Sufi faith — two takes on Islam that are often at war with each other in Dagestan. (Andrea Bruce/NOOR for The Washington Post)

Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Chloe Coleman.

Dutch photographer Kadir van Lohuizen chose images from the work of American photographer Andrea Bruce, noting that he values what a woman’s voice can bring to the field of photojournalism.

Bruce’s work focuses on the social issues that affect populations in postwar societies. She concentrated on Iraq and Afghanistan for over 10 years, including time spent as a staff photographer for The Washington Post and as a member of the VII Network (2010–2011). She has been a member of NOOR since 2012.

“Andrea’s work stands out because of the tenderness and sensitivity in her images. She works often in very harsh conditions, covering conflicts like in Syria. What makes the work special is that she seems to enter private domains and is taking the time to listen and understand . . . When I edited Andrea’s work I really wanted to focus on the women she has photographed by giving us an insight into how much they care and often suffer, which is not what we often see.”

The photographs in this post are van Lohuizen’s selection of Bruce’s work:

Afghan women and children mourn the loss of family members, who were killed in a raid by U.S. Special Forces, near Jalalabad, Afghanistan on May 16, 2010. In May 2010, U.S. Special Operations forces claimed they killed several insurgents in this village, just outside Jalalabad in the Nangahar District of eastern Afghanistan. Family members of the nine people killed say the massacre was unwarranted, and local Afghan officials complain the raid left Afghan police in the dark. They attempted to respond to the raid, thinking it was a Taliban attack, and were targeted as well. Local support for women and children inside the village was prevented for several hours. (Andrea Bruce/NOOR)

[Left] A young girl juggles oranges for money at a stoplight in Guatemala City traffic. Urban Survivors, Guatemala City, in 2012. (Andrea Bruce/NOOR for MSF) [Right] Sima and Monali Kandi dance on the roof of the dorm where they live with other factory girls for the K. Mohan clothing factory in Bangalore, India, in 2016. India is trying to transform itself into a manufacturing economy, and for this, it must find workers. In this case, unmarried women have been brought here at government expense from remote villages. (Andrea Bruce/NOOR)

An activist hides behind a wall in Diraz, Bahrain after she was tear gassed by Bahraini police, February 2011. (Andrea Bruce/NOOR)

[Left] Shela Hassan Elwan, 34, has six children. Her husband was kidnapped on June 4, 2006 when driving a delivery truck to Baghdad. His body was never found. She was pregnant with their youngest son when he disappeared. The Daughters of Iraq are Iraqi women who have been widowed by the violence that has engulfed Iraq in the past five years. Hired mostly by Sunni officials in small villages, the Daughters provide security for checkpoints to support their families. Contracts for the Daughters of Iraq may end early in 2009, leaving widows without a socially acceptable job and a way to feed their families.
(Andrea Bruce/NOOR) [Right] The mother of Khan Mohammad, a 3-month-old child who passed away due to the cold early Wednesday morning, is comforted before the child is washed and buried in the Nasaji Bagrami Camp for displaced people in Kabul. Feb. 8, 2012. (Andrea Bruce/NOOR)

To see more of Bruce’s photography, visit here.