Remembering a Brilliant Gaza Photojournalist Whose Lens Was Silenced by War
These adorable photos of newborn babies you're seeing came from this man's camera. This genius photojournalist's name is Yahia Barzaq, who is no longer in this world. On this day last year, Israeli bombs, with their monstrous tendencies, took the life of this extremely talented man in Gaza.
Barzak was a remarkable photojournalist. He was renowned for his creative photography of newborns, including his acclaimed documentary "Gaza Through My Lens" and his captivating portraits of Gaza's newborns. These innocent images from Barzak's camera leave anyone who sees them spellbound. Extremely creative. Heartwarming. But what does Israel, the enemy of humanity, have to do with talent and creativity?
On September 30, 2025, Barzak was uploading his assignment in a cafe in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, when the Israeli army bombed the site, killing him. Many of the Palestinian babies Barzak photographed have been killed in the Israeli military campaign.
Yahia Barzak, 34, born in Cyprus, owned his own studio before the Israeli military campaign, which was the only studio in Gaza that specialized in newborn photography. In his last Instagram post, Barzak described how he was forced to flee Gaza, leaving behind the studio he called home.
Barzak wrote in another post that his body was displaced south, but his heart remains in Gaza City. After leaving the studio, Barzak began working for the Turkish broadcaster TRT World, focusing on the effects of war on civilians, especially children.
In one of his posts, he wrote, "How can I watch their tender, innocent bodies burn, when I used to see them at their most beautiful every day?" A few days before his death, Barzak saw a photograph of a newborn baby buried under the rubble of houses, a photograph Barzak himself had once taken. "I never imagined that these beautiful photographs we took would be destroyed," Yahia said. Barzak used those photographs to honor the martyred children and raise awareness against war.
