Even NOOR's Yuri Kozyrev, who has photographed wars for decades, was unprepared for the extent of the devastation in Homs. "It's worse than Grozny," he said. After waiting years for his Syrian visa, Yuri documented locals returning to the ruined city to salvage belongings from their former lives.
“It was a powerful, emotional moment to follow them to their houses, or what was left of their houses,” said Yuri. “Many seemed unable to find where they once lived among all the rubble.”
Yuri also travelled to Damascus to photograph the fragile, relative normalcy of the Assad stronghold.
This work in Syria was the cover story for this week's TIME Magazine. Check it out in print or see the extensive LightBox here.
