By Danielle Capalbo
Last March, in the middle of the night, Leslie Thomas found a stunning photograph.
In darkness, her computer screen glowed while she searched online. Thomas, 42, had not read many articles on the genocide in Darfur, yet none could have spoken with the strength and clarity of the image she found that night.
“It wasn’t until I saw the face of a child,” she said. “I have a child myself.”
The photo, taken by former US Marine Brian Steidle, was a shot of a young Darfurian girl, Thomas said. The young Mihad Hamid was beautiful in the picture; Thomas remembered her face.
Some time before Steidle captured her image, Mihad was shot several times by a gun.
The reality from that picture impacted Thomas.
“I was so moved by the photo,” she said. “I thought perhaps other people would have the same response.”
So Thomas dialed the numbers of photographers who famously captured scenes of the genocide, including Brian Steidle, whose work had changed her. She asked for photographs from photojournalist Lynsey Addario of the New York Times, among others.
“They were gracious,” said Thomas, who took their work and compiled 170 striking photos to create a traveling photo-exhibit called “Darfur/Darfur.”
“Darfur/Darfur” is a collection of images set in a six-minute loop, to be projected digitally at enormous sizes, accompanied by Sudanese-inspired music. The exhibit will visit 24 US cities in 24 days, including Boston. Thomas hopes the photos will deeply touch viewers and help raise awareness of the genocide.
“If you can see one face who looks like your sister, or your brother, or your neighbor, you can personalize this experience, and realize it’s absolutely imperative that you reach out,” she said.
On Friday, Sept. 7, the exhibit will spend one day at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). The photographs will be projected onto screens in the ICA’s theaters, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., visible inside only, and again from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., visible inside and outside, through the museum’s tall glass walls.
Voices of Mercy, a musical group from the Berklee College of Music, will perform during the evening showing of the photographs. Admission to the showings is free.
Another portion of the exhibit includes a live performance by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and presentations by Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power; Anna Lindh, professor of practice of global leadership and public policy at Harvard University; Susannah Sirkin, deputy directory of Physicians for Human Rights; and photographer Michal Ronnen Safdie, of Cambridge.
Carole Anne Meehan, a curator at the ICA and the main coordinator of the exhibit, said the decision to host the event was not a challenge.
“We realized it was a very well- designed … project, put together in response to the crisis,” Meehan said.
ICA staff members agreed it’s important to spread awareness, she said, and hope the reality of the images will resonate with visitors.
“Human beings are being treated egregiously,” Meehan said. “And it’s not right.”
