Léa Campbell

Amidst the devastating conflict in Syria and Iraq, cultural heritage sites were pillaged by terrorist factions and opportunists - most prolifically in 2014 and 2015. This resulted in a thriving illicit antiquities trade, with thousands of artefacts looted for profit.

The destruction of churches, synagogues, mosques, and archaeological sites by groups such as the Islamic State eradicated evidence of their own plundering and selling of artefacts. To this day, it is unclear which were sold and which were destroyed - and where the existing artefacts are now. The consequences are devastating: erasing evidence of ancient civilisations and eradicating traces of human history.

Around the same time in the conflict, a small number of foreign individuals joined local militias to fight against extremist groups in Syria. Navigating tight border controls, they were transported clandestinely, often by smugglers who they met through social media.

Haunts attempts to visual the space within which objects and people were stored and smuggled during this time: a murky area where things became invisible, untraceable. Where identities were obscured, moving like ghosts under the cover of darkness.

This project was featured in British Journal of Photography’s September 2018 issue.