From 11 September till 25 October Breda will host the 12th edition of the biennial BredaPhoto Festival, the largest photographic exhibition in the Benelux. Dutch Design Daily highlights a number of Dutch participants during the festival period. Today, Fouad Hallak with his project A Mind in the Past, Eyes on Tomorrow.
“On December 8, 2024, the Assad regime fell in Syria. After decades of dictatorship and years of intense war, it was a day that, like many Syrians, I never expected to witness.
I had no hope that I would ever return to my homeland. I left Syria in 2016 because of the regime’s violence and came to the Netherlands seeking refuge. For years, I could not go back. But when the regime fell, I knew I had to return. One month later, I finally did.
Returning was not just a physical journey; it was an emotional one. I wanted to reconnect with the streets, memories, people, and places from my past. I wanted to see Syria with my own eyes again and to capture it in photographs, but my frames were smaller than that.
My feelings were mixed. I could not express them in words, but through photographs, I could. They show many emotions, fear, pain, confusion, but also something else: hope. It is not easy to see, and it is not clear why it is there. But people feel it. I felt it too.
During my time here, I created a temporary mobile studio in the streets of Damascus, driven by my fascination with old studio photography, a tradition that had disappeared in Syria through years of war and displacement. I invited people – families, brothers, friends and individuals – to have their portrait taken, marking this period. With Studio Damascus, I wanted to offer them a moment of stability, something many of us hadn’t felt in years.
A Mind in the Past, Eyes on Tomorrow is for anyone who lives under oppression or feels like hope is lost. I want to say that there is always hope, even in the darkest times. And the future is still possible.” – Fouad Hallak
BredaPhoto Festival 2026
11 September – 25 October, 2026
Location: Chassé Park
bredaphoto.nl
