Morgana Wingard

Photographer, Videographer, Producer

Can anyone help us?

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Nationality: American

Biography: Morgana is an American documentary photographer and filmmaker. She's spent the last five years on the continent of Africa documenting everything from Ebola to HIV. She's currently working on a personal project on the world water crisis starting... MORE

DOHUK, IRAQ -Â October 15, 2015...d if anyone can help us."

DOHUK, IRAQ -Â October 15, 2015:Â Adul, 60, and her family traveled to Khanke in her cousins vehicle from Sinjar Mountain after ISIS invaded in August 2014. It's been more than a year and even though they don't have a tent or a house, they haven't left because they have nowhere else to go. At least there are other Yazidis here. When they first arrived, they stayed with 4 families inside a storage room of a house. Adul and her husband have one daughter and one son. Their son has five children -- three of which are disabled like Rajja. "Only God knows why," she says. Rajja, 14, is deaf and mute. "Everyday I come here [to the temple] and ask God if anyone can help us."

DOHUK, IRAQ -Â October 18, 2015... Facebook account was closed.Â

DOHUK, IRAQ -Â October 18, 2015:Â "I never fought before Daesh (the Islamic State) came. I never wanted to. Now I go to school for 10 days and then go to Sinjar to fight as a Peshmerga for 10 days."Â

Maher, 19, is in 6th grade at a school for internally displaced people in the refugee camp where he lives with his family in northern Iraq. Last time he was in school was in Sinjar a year ago. Today was his first day of school since then, but they have no books and the tents for the classrooms (in the background) are falling down. Him and his two brothers support 11 family members.Â

Maher's brother's wife and their 3 daughters were captured by Daesh (the Islamic State). The oldest is 5 and a half. A few months ago they received a message on Facebook from Daesh saying they could pay $50,000 for them to be released. But, they wanted $6,000 upfront and we figured it was a lie. Ten days after reaching out to us, the Facebook account was closed.Â

DOHUK, IRAQ - October 20, 2015:...She wants to go back to Sinjar.

DOHUK, IRAQ - October 20, 2015: Basma, 8, escapedÂ Sinjar after ISIS invaded.Â Now she lives with her familyÂ in an area near Dohuk. Other family membersÂ are in Syria and Germany includingÂ her 12 year oldÂ brother. But,Â she saysÂ won't leave this country. She wants to go back to Sinjar.

DOHUK, IRAQ - October 14, 2015...ide the nearby refugeeÂ camp.Â

DOHUK, IRAQ - October 14, 2015:Â "When I play with my beads I remember home and I forget all my problems." Khansa, 70, is a Yazidi refugee from Sinjar Mountain. SheÂ livesÂ withÂ herÂ familyÂ inÂ aÂ makeshiftÂ tent because there is no room left inside the nearby refugeeÂ camp.Â

DOHUK, IRAQ - October 15, 2015...efugee camp in northern Iraq.Â

DOHUK, IRAQ - October 15, 2015:Â "I volunteered with the Sinjar force in the mountain for 3 months after Daesh came as a guard. I learned how to fight when I worked for the Iraqi army for 6 years during the war with Iran." Haji is a Yazidi refugee from Sinjar mountain living in Khanke refugee camp in northern Iraq.Â

DOHUK, IRAQ - October 18, 2015:...aming the Baghdad government.Â

DOHUK, IRAQ - October 18, 2015:Â "I haven't received a salary for 4 months. We don't know when we'll get paid again."Â Zed is anÂ English teacher in a refugee camp for Yazidis in northern Iraq.Â Teachers hired to teach internally displaced children in Kurdistand have not been paid for over 4 months. The reason is still unclear. Some say the government is stopping salaries to government employees in Kurdistan to prevent the money from passing into the Islamic State's hands. Others say, the government in Baghdad stop sending the money to Kurdistand to pay their employees because they are out of money. Others assert that it's a government conspiracy and the Kurdistan government is holding the money and blaming the Baghdad government.Â

DOHUK, IRAQ - October 20, 2015 ...August 2014 when ISIS invaded.

DOHUK, IRAQ - October 20, 2015 -Â Nisrine, 9, a Yazidi left Sinjar Mountain with her family in August 2014 when ISIS invaded.

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Thumbnail of DOHUK, IRAQ -Â October 15, 2015:_od if anyone can help us."

Thumbnail of DOHUK, IRAQ -Â October 18, 2015:_e Facebook account was closed.Â

Thumbnail of DOHUK, IRAQ - October 20, 2015: _ She wants to go back to Sinjar.

Thumbnail of DOHUK, IRAQ - October 14, 2015:_side the nearby refugeeÂ camp.Â

Thumbnail of DOHUK, IRAQ - October 15, 2015:_refugee camp in northern Iraq.Â

Thumbnail of DOHUK, IRAQ - October 18, 2015:Â_laming the Baghdad government.Â

Thumbnail of DOHUK, IRAQ - October 20, 2015 -_ August 2014 when ISIS invaded.

Private Story

Can anyone help us?

Copyright Morgana Wingard 2024

Date of Work Oct 2015 - Oct 2015

Updated Apr 2018

Location Dohuk, Iraq

Topics Documentary, Migration, Photography, Portraiture, Travel, War

In 2015 life was on hold for Yazidi refugees in northern Iraq who at that point had waited for more than a year to go home to Sinjar Mountain which was captured by the Islamic State in August 2014. Refugee camps were overcrowed and overflowing as new makeshift camps erupted around them. Over several weeks, Morgana worked on a series of portraits of displaced Yazidi refugees waiting to go home. The first portrait she captured was of Adul and her granddaughter at the Baba Chawish temple outside one camp. When asked why she came to the temple she said, "Everyday I come here and ask God if anyone can help us."