Deaf photographer’s winning photo of refugee Lawand exhibited at National Portrait Gallery

Deaf photographer Stephen Iliffe talks to Juliet England about a very special portrait 

A profoundly deaf volunteer photographer’s portrait of two young refugees, taken in their temporary accommodation in Derby, is one of just four to have been chosen (from more than two thousand submissions) to go on show at the National Portrait Gallery near London’s Trafalgar Square. 

The portrait of Lawand Hamadamin, who is deaf, and his hearing brother Rawa, then six and seven respectively, was shot in 2017 and the photographer who took it, Stephen Iliffe, reckons it is the first image of a deaf person by a profoundly deaf photographer to be shown at the National Portrait Gallery in the institution’s nearly 170 years. 

Their family, which has since expanded to include two more brothers, are eighth-generation Kurdish Iraqis who fled their homeland in 2016 with just the clothes they were wearing, and their journey to reach the UK took months. 

Lawand’s story has also been told as part of a new documentary, Name Me Lawand, which is in cinemas now.

The image is part of a major new exhibition called The Nation’s Family Gallery featuring diverse portraits of ordinary British people and organised in association with the family history website Ancestry. There were four high-profile judges who each chose their favourite image. Millie Pilkington, a leading portrait taker who has photographed the Royal Family, picked Iliffe’s out.

As a volunteer photographer, Iliffe takes portraits to celebrate the UK deaf community’s diverse mosaic of class, ethnicity and different ways of life.

Originally from Leicester and now based in north London, he says: 

“I was introduced to Lawand’s family via the voluntary project Audiovisability that was at that time seeking to highlight the experiences of deaf refugee children. I made two day trips to Derby, and spoke to Lawand’s parents through a Kurdish interpreter, while using my own BSL to converse with the boys. 

“We’d first sit down on the floor, Kurdish-style, to chat over a tray of black tea and baklava pastries. The boys’ parents, Gulbahar (their mum) and Rebwar (Dad), talked me through their traumatic experiences of and arriving in England. When he first arrived, Lawand was only six, and had been traumatised by the experience of suddenly being uprooted from a homeland torn apart by war. 

“The lad had no experience then of formal schooling, nor any functioning language and communication (as there was, and still is, no infrastructure within Iraq that supports deaf awareness and early-years support for families with deaf children). Thankfully, he was given a place at the Royal School for Deaf Children, Derby, where he has thrived ever since.

“The image was a spontaneous one, in the style of documentary photography. I had spent an hour getting to know the boys first, by conversing with them in British Sign Language. Photographing children is always a technical challenge. I didn’t want to pose them as that would look too formal, stiff and unnatural. So, I approached the session by first getting them to play some games with their toys. Finally, they came up with their own of pretending to be Spiderman by climbing the walls of their room. I’d never have come up with that idea myself; it was something that grew out of their own imaginations – which makes it all the more powerful. Immediately, I saw the chance of great photo. I just told the boys ‘Carry on, do that a few more times for me!’. They had become quite good at inventing games to pass the time. 

“The pillows had earlier been put to one side for the day to make a space on the mattresses for the boys to play. Of course, as a photographer I’m always thinking about light, where it’s coming from and how it falls onto my subjects. So I stood over to one side to ensure my camera was sideways-on from the window light. The effect is quite beautiful. Although it’s a sparsely furnished room, the way the light falls onto the walls, the pillows and the figures has a sculptural effect. 

“Looking at the photo retrospectively, there’s also a deeper symbolism: of two boys, in a bare room, one tentatively holding onto the walls, that somehow captures what it means to be in a different country and culture and improvising a new life.” 

Lawand now uses BSL as his first language. Rawa often interprets for him. After so many traumatic experiences, the brothers have formed a very close bond with each other.

For Iliffe, pictured right, the shot’s inclusion in the exhibition is recognition that deaf people also form part of the UK, and includes refugees who have come here to seek sanctuary from war, famine or other disasters. 

He adds: “Our community has been enriched by people of Commonwealth and EU heritage. And, for too long, deaf people have been seen by museums and galleries are largely passive consumers of art, but not on the walls themselves. BSL tours and captioned videos are great, and access is important, but we should also have a place within the exhibitions themselves, too – both as deaf creatives or as subjects of art. I’m glad that The Nation’s Family Album is inclusive of us.

“War and famine have also brought deaf refugees to our shores. It is this incredible diversity that I celebrate. I’m thrilled at the image’s inclusion in the exhibition but really  the story isn’t about me – it’s about this incredible family.” 

• The Nation’s Family Album is free and runs at the National Portrait Gallery, London, until 10^th September.