The men in these photographs were not professional soldiers. They were everyday people—farmers, workers, drivers—who decided to take up arms against an oppressive and unjust regime. They formed a brigade, naming it the Brigade of National Unity, to send a clear message that their struggle was not based on hate or aimed at sparking division or conflict, but about creating a homeland safe for themselves and for all Syrians.

Initially, my goal was not to create intimate portraits but to document this brigade as a phenomenon—an organic resistance movement that emerged from necessity. But as I spent time with them, the reality of their situation unfolded in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I captured quiet, raw moments of emotional impact. Perhaps these images reveal the human side of conflict—vulnerability, fatigue, and uncertainty. Each face tells a story of personal sacrifice and a complex decision to fight.