A Picnic

We arrived at a get together of a number of families to take pictures. They didn’t know we were coming but allowed us to take pictures without hesitation. This was immediately followed up with offers of freshly grilled meat with fresh vegetables on a flatbread. I live in a household that is made up primarily of vegetarians and so eat little meat. I was offered more meat than I had eaten in the past six months combined. This hospitality has routinely been my experience as I’ve worked with these Kurdish families on this documentary. The hospitality of the families that I have taken pictures of has been astounding as they have invited us into their homes and then made sure we felt comfortable providing us with refreshments and sometimes entire meals for our whole crew. It made me think about the way that in the United States we enjoy efficiency and so rarely go out of our way to be hospitable beyond a glass of water to the uninvited guest.
--Julian Wiebe-Johnson