The photo of the young Lebanese girl, Yara, turned her into an icon overnight after the Beirut explosion. The 4-year-old girl was struck in the face during the explosion while she was at her family’s home in the Karantina neighborhood. With a stitched face and scars reflecting the traces of the crime, she stood before Jad Gharib’s lens, showing her pain and agony while smiling.
“Everything happened so quickly that I did not look back, nor did I look into at what happened in my house in Mar Mikhael,” said Gharib in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat. I just remember taking my camera and running to examine the roads and alleys of the stricken area, after I was shocked by the terrifying consequences of the explosion.
As a photographic engineer of heritage buildings and installations, Gharib, who used to highlight the importance of Beirut’s architecture, added: “When one of my friends called to ask me to take a look at the face of the child Yara, I hesitated. However, my friend insisted, explaining to me that he had spoken to them and asked for permission. When I saw her at first glance, I was heartbroken. Yara’s face was like a map of wounds and scars.”
Yara, who was wounded in her face, had been playing and dancing when Gharib arrived at her residence in the Karantina neighborhood, which had been badly damaged by the explosion. He asked her to allow him to photograph her and she greeted, smiling.
“She was a living example of an innocent childhood, unaware of the severity of her injury in reality. And based on her childish thinking, she considered her wounds very similar to those that she usually inflicts on her foot or hand while playing outside her house,” explains Gharib.
As soon as Jad posted Yara’s picture on his two accounts (Facebook and Instagram), activists shared it on social media.
“Artists and media professionals from Lebanon, Arab countries and other foreign countries have shared Yara’s image, which was a big surprise to me. I simply wanted to shine a ray of light on the children of Beirut in the aftermath of the explosion, and the woes that struck them because of it, hoping to help in alleviating their pain,” he noted.
The Lebanese photographer, who was also injured in the blast, received about 40 calls from plastic sergeants asking him to contact the girl to have her face operated.
“An Australian charity first took it upon themselves to treat Yara’s wounds. However, another association (INARA) took charge of this case from A to Z, willing to adopt Yara and her family’s case and help them in all aspects.
Gharib goes on to say: “My message reached humanity as a whole, and I was able to draw the world’s attention to a wounded childhood in Beirut. And I am happy that I have contributed to opening the door for several injured children to get help in treating their wounds and doing cosmetic and other surgeries free of charge through generous donations.”
Maya Diab was among the many artists who engaged with the image of Yara. After seeing her, she launched a humanitarian initiative in which she announced her intention to restore the faces of children deformed by the Beirut explosion.
The image of Yara inspired many. Photographer Evan Debs modified the photo taken by Jad Ghorayeb to transform her scars and wounds into a map of Lebanon to indicate the wound of an entire nation. While one of them gave Yara the title “Miss Lebanon.”
