THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Feelings of Iraqis reflected in 'Baghdad Project'

Author(s): Dan Nailen The Salt Lake Tribune Date: April 10, 2004 Page: A4
Section: Nation/World

Veteran journalist Zelie Pollon tracked the first months of the war in Iraq
from her Santa Fe, N.M., home the way most Americans did -- reading
newspapers and watching the news. But she noticed the stories always seemed
to revolve around American troops or the hunt for Saddam Hussein. What,
Pollon wondered, were the regular citizens of Iraq thinking, and why weren't
America's media outlets telling the world their story?

"I was very frustrated with the coverage of the war, and I felt that
mainstream media weren't doing the kind of job or getting the kind of news
out that I wanted to see," said Pollon, who writes regularly for Reuters
news service, People magazine and The Dallas Morning News.

"For people in this country, we cannot at all relate to what it's like to
live in a war, or to have undergone sanctions for 35 years, or living under
a brutal dictator. We heard some of the stories of people living under
Saddam Hussein, we knew he was horrible, absolutely, but now what? What were
they thinking?"

With that question lingering, Pollon teamed with photojournalist Laurent
Guerin and made her first excursion into a war zone, paying for the trip
through donations from citizens who shared her desire to know what was
happening with average Iraqis.

Pollon and Guerin patterned their work, titled the "Baghdad Project," on The
New York Times' "Portraits of Grief" series honoring victims of the World
Trade Center attacks. The duo interviewed and photographed 130 Iraqis from
all walks of life over the course of a month and a half in the fall of 2003,
and the resulting exhibit will be in Salt Lake City today and Monday.

During the presentation, Pollon and Guerin show slides of the people they
interviewed, while actors or audience members speak their words.

"We thought that by doing portraits and interviews, taking a more subtle
approach, the people here really could relate to Iraqis as individuals who
are living, breathing, going to school, having relationships like people
here," Pollon said.

As might be expected, the responses gathered by Pollon and Guerin run the
gamut. Some of the Iraqis felt liberated and ecstatic, while others felt
humiliated by the United States. Most notable to the duo was the large
number of people whose responses fell somewhere in between, Iraqis who were
both fearful and hopeful for the future.

For Pollon, reporting in a war-torn country offered more than a few
surprises.

"One was really how so much of life just went on as usual," Pollon said.
"There are eight million people in Baghdad, and of course they had to go on
living their lives, going to school and work, and even though intellectually
I knew that was the case, it still surprised me. Second was how open and
friendly people were. They were incredibly generous with their time and
information. And also, how educated they were. I had very little sense of
that. Sometimes the media portrays them as desert nomads with no education,
and that's certainly not the case.

"They were very developed, very educated and very funny. There's a sense of
humor you find in the middle of a war zone that's really remarkable."
So far Pollon and Guerin have shown the project in New Mexico and Colorado,
and they plan appearances in California and New York. They hope to turn the
Baghdad Project into a traveling exhibit available for schools and museums,
and potentially a book.

Presentations
* The Baghdad Project will have two presentations in Salt Lake City.
Tonight, it will be shown at the Unitarian Church, 569 S. 1300 East at 7
p.m., with a suggested donation of $5 to $10. Monday, it will be presented
at Westminster College's Business Auditorium, 1840 S. 1300 East at 7 p.m.
Parking at 1700 S. 1200 East. Free to the public, but donations will be
accepted.