Poverty, conflict, corruption, safety, and poor infrastructure are just some of the challenges faced by millions of children across the world in their pursuit of an education.
Maher Attar, a renowned photographer, has captured these inspiring and sometimes harrowing journeys in Challenges and Reality, a book commissioned by founder of Education Above All, HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.
The book featuring photos taken by Attar of children from ten countries in pursuit of education is on display at Katara Esplanade till April 19.
It is inspired by Unesco’s The Cradle of Inequality, released over a decade ago, featuring the work of photographer Sebastio Salgado and writer/poet Cristovam Buarque about children in developing countries who were facing barriers to education.
While tremendous progress has been made since The Cradle of Inequality, 58 million out of school children worldwide remain without access to quality primary education.
“Far too many children grow up in a cruel and indifferent environment. My travels over the years with HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser on her fight for education have only served to reinforce this harsh reality,” says Attar.
“This book is meant to offer a window into the daily lives and challenges of these amazing children. I have been astounded by the sheer joy shown by children, the world over when education extends its welcoming and nourishing arms to them, a great and worthy challenge that drives everyone at ‘Education Above All,’” he adds.
Photographer Maher Attar spent four months travelling across India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Haiti, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan and Lebanon for Challenges and Reality, documenting the struggle for education by children in poverty-stricken, and often very remote regions.
“These are the faces and places that must be remembered when speaking out on education,” says Irina Bokova, Unesco director general.
“Across the world too many girls and boys are not making it to school or are not finishing their education, especially girls and boys in conflict and humanitarian situations. The world cannot afford to waste the talent of these or any other young people,” notes Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary general.
“Education, he says, saves lives and builds peace. It is an engine from the global economy and allows people to reach their potential; it is a fundamental right and essential for shaping the future we want. That is why I am working with many partners to put global education first,” he adds.
Maher Attar is a renowned photographer with 30 years of experience at international photo agencies including AFP, Sygma and Corbis in Paris. He set up his own agency in 2002. In 2006, he founded Art&Privilège, a publishing company specialising in photography, which has published a number of books, and became an Epson-certified “Digigraph.”
A retrospective of his work, A Twenty Year Journey was held in Paris in 2003. On May 18, 2006 his native country of Lebanon honoured him with the exhibition Born in Lebanon on National Heritage Day.
At the same time, to mark the International Year of Deserts and Desertification under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme, an exhibition of his work was held at the Espace Pierre Cardin in Paris, entitled Auprès de mon Arbre and featuring nine large format photographs celebrating nature, water and life.
Maher’s Bonheur project, inspired from the backstage of famous cabaret Le Lido de Paris, blossomed in the summer of 2006 in the form of a series of exhibitions and a book. Following that, he published Once Upon a Time…Souq Waqif, capturing the mystery and the spirit of the old market in Doha.
Images from the book were exhibited on large format canvas boards in Doha during the 2006 Asian Games and, later, at Unesco headquarters in Paris. Portraits-Lebanon focused on personality portraits of leading figures from contemporary Lebanon’s economic, literary and artistic sectors.
Lastly, the book DOHArama, a portrait of a desert metropolis between past and present, using panoramic techniques and Lomography, was exhibited at the QMA Gallery in the Doha Cultural Village in 2011.
A first presentation of his current Lomography work was presented at Anima art contemporary gallery at The Pearl in Doha in 2013, and was then selected by the MEP and the Arab World Institute to exhibit at the First Photography Biennale of the Contemporary Arab World from November 2015 to January 2016 in Paris.
Maher Attar has developed and run the image bank at the office of HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser for ten years. In parallel, he committed to organising special projects including, in 2009, a programme designed to teach children from Asian countries the joys and techniques of photography.
Since May 2013, he has been devoted to the project ‘Challenges & Reality’, sponsored by Education Above All foundation. The work was launched at the United Nations headquarters in New York and exhibited at the Unesco headquarters in Paris.