There are professions in which risk is part of the routine, but also the commitment to help and make visible the reality of many people. An example of this is Alberto Hugo Rojas, a photojournalist from Lanzarote who dedicates his life to capturing, through his camera, the worst moments caused by wars in different countries of the world. So much so that a few months ago, the Cabildo de Lanzarote recognized his work by awarding him the Jameo de Oro for International Solidarity.
In addition, in his case, from a young age, Rojas was nurtured by his father, the well-known photographer José Luis Rojas. "I grew up with cameras and going to very important events from a very young age, I learned the profession on the street in a masterful way because for many people my father was that key to learning the profession on the street," he says. "My father taught me to use the camera with humanity," he continues. His concern for war reporters also began to take shape from a young age and from very early on, he wanted to get involved in that profession.
The first conflict in which the photographer immersed himself was in Palestine and Israel in 2002, which has led him since then to visit different wars in the world. "Here is where I thought that my work should not only be something to publish because we are failing in pedagogy, so I put it in the hands of education," he explains. Rojas wanted to get away from the immediacy of the media because he learned that "you have to live in the place, which entails a risk and a high economic cost", since in his case, his work is independent and does not have the support of a large media outlet.
He also assures that he works less and less and is betting more on the educational project of Peace in Construction, an NGO to defend the human rights of people, the basis of all coexistence. "If there is an attack, you have to explain what happened before in the place and what happens after, so many times you go back to stories you have done with families, children and women," the photographer points out.
"We cannot talk about equality if we do not understand human rights"
One of the points that Alberto Hugo Rojas defends the most is the need to understand and respect human rights to achieve the equality that is much talked about. "First we have to educate in a human rights perspective because if we don't, we are not going to understand equality because we are currently basing any vision on opinions and an opinion is not a fact, so the only way to tell what is happening is to live and be there, that is the work we do," he says.
On the other hand, Rojas creates the NGO Peace in Construction "to give an entity to the work we have been doing individually", all with a base of education in human rights and peace. "The experience we bring is to listen to the experts and that this can be a basis for educating," he explains. In addition, they create unique and exclusive material, both for publications and for dissemination.
A work that travels through different conflicts and countries
The dedication and work of Alberto Hugo Rojas makes the visit to different countries and conflicts mandatory. His beginnings led him to the war in Palestine and Israel in 2002, where he returned a year later. "Our work is a warning work because we said where the Israeli government was going," he indicates.
His journey continued through Iraq, Syria, in the desert to give voice to the Saharawi refugees, the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and through the Canary Islands, the north of France, the Greek islands and Lesbos to address the issue of immigration. The war in Ukraine and Russia was also another of his works where he documented Putin's invasion of the neighboring country.
Dangerous speeches
The violation of human rights has caused different hate speeches to ignite the flame of wars. "Something very important is that, if someone in society accepts that another does not have the right to exist because of a hate speech, we have failed, and this is happening but it is not new," he declares. "Hot cloths have been put on calling the Nazis 'far right', but no, they are Nazis and in their DNA is that diversity and multiculturalism do not touch, that women have to go back to their homes... we have failed the moment someone accepts these hate speeches," he continues.
That is why the work of the photographer and many more people goes in the pedagogical line. "Schools do an immense job because they see images of conflicts and talk about the photos at home, the photos of the dead and wounded are already seen at home on television, and it is normalized," he says.
After his first experience in the conflict in Palestine, a photographic exhibition arose that his father, José Luis Rojas, promoted, called Palestine and Israel: two peoples condemned to understand each other, and as a result of it, the first talks began. "I realized that my work in the hands of students and teachers could be more useful," he says.
The psychological impact
One of the biggest problems faced by war photojournalists is the psychological impact of living so much pain, death and suffering. Rojas was joined by the death of his father, which affected him a lot. "I have had to live with something very hard and these three years in Ukraine have been terrifying, especially when people want to give me lessons and I ask them if they are under the bombings, because I am, and many times I have narrowly escaped death," he explains.
And it is that in conflicts like Ukraine, the rains of missiles and bombs are something habitual for three years. "The third year of being there I had to suffer a lot seeing so many children die and women go to the front to fight because they do not have the obligation to go but as their husband dies, they enlist and die," he recalls.
All this causes post-traumatic stress and depression with which Alberto Hugo Rojas and the other people who are in these war scenarios live but "there are not enough tools for anyone, something very important for all citizens because mental health is something basic", exposes the photographer. In addition, he points out that the returns from the conflict zones "are very hard and difficult to manage, but so is preparing to leave because you know what you are going to face and you enter a phase of denial, you get very sick".
Access to tools to take care of mental health, according to Rojas, "should be the priority of any ruler but it is not being achieved and in many places in war I have seen that the social becomes an essential dynamic to protect the population, with small organizations helping people despite the few resources and solidarity is always talked about as doing charity but true solidarity is channeling human rights", he says.
A work focused on women and children
From the beginning, the work of Alberto Hugo Rojas focused on women and children, always trying to find stories that are examples of equality and parity. "In Syria there was talk of the women's revolution in the north, of the Kurdish girls, because apart from fighting, they can also govern and a series of laws were established where women who had been forcibly married could divorce. That is the story of Asia, who at 16 years old divorced and fought," says the photographer.
Despite the wars and conflicts, women try to fight to survive in a society of men. "In all conflicts you see the need for women to seek equality and risking their lives for it because in those areas of the world there are honor crimes, since if you dishonor your family, they have to kill you," he declares. Here comes into play the Istanbul Convention which "is essential for many migrants and, above all, for migrant women who suffer female genital mutilation".
"In this sense it is very important to do pedagogy because you hear things like 'they come with their culture' but, what is their culture? What is really not culture is polygamy, female genital mutilation or arranged marriages," he says. "The problem is not the Muslims, the problem is the radical message that comes from Saudi Arabia that finances the attacks we have suffered in the European Union, that they do not like how we live and they want us to live like them, and that many public figures and athletes whitewash," he concludes.
Alberto Hugo Rojas in 2015 with Kurdish women.
