A cyclist watches a fire caused by the explosion of a mortar shell during fighting between Government and Opposition forces near the Old City of Damascus.

© Sergey Ponomarev, Damascus, Syria, 24 August 2013 (Assad’s Syria 2013-2014)

As part of IWM’s wider season Syria: A Conflict Explored, IWM London will stage Sergey Ponomarev: A Lens on Syria, the first UK exhibition of photographs by award-winning Russian documentary photographer Sergey Ponomarev. The exhibition, comprising colour prints and digital media, will explore the human consequences of the Syria conflict and its connection to the European refugee crisis of 2015.

Sergey Ponomarev: A Lens on Syria will feature more than 60 photographs, a number of which will go on public display for the first time, selected from two bodies of work by Ponomarev. It will consider the role of factors such as official access controls which shape international understanding of the Syria conflict. Displayed across four rooms, the exhibition will be presented in two sections, Assad’s Syria and The Exodus.

An inflatable dinghy, crowded with refugees and migrants, is pulled ashore on the island of Lesbos after sailing five miles across the Aegean from Turkey.

© Sergey Ponomarev for the New York Times, Lesbos, Greece, 27 July 2015 (The Exodus 2015-2016)

Assad’s Syria will feature 24 colour photographs displayed as large digital prints in three rooms from Ponomarev’s photo-essay, Assad’s Syria (2013-2014). Ponomarev was one of very few photographers allowed access to the Government-controlled areas of Syria in 2013-2014. His photographs delve beneath the surface of events to ask what life was really like for people living in these areas.

The Exodus will feature a digital installation comprising more than 40 photographs taken by Ponomarev at the height of the European refugee crisis for the New York Times between 2015 and 2016. 

Syria: A Conflict Explored runs from 27 April until 3 September 2017, at IWM London. Admission is free.