A project published in the Washington Post features a collection of stories by grantees of the Magnum Foundation. Grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, seven photographers—based in the Middle East and North Africa—share their personal experiences and perspectives of life under lockdown, illustrating the extent to which COVID-19 has impacted, and often worsened, the lives of people in already tenuous circumstances.

More than ever, the burden that photographers carry when telling stories from their own homelands has become apparent during the pandemic. These women and men are no mere witnesses but live inside these stories, feeling their full weight. At the same time, they can capture themes and spot tales that foreign eyes may miss. Photographing home is, of course, an intimate act.

This visual project, initiated with the Magnum Foundation, supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, gives us a glimpse through this lens, be it focused on migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates or taking a glimpse into the lockdown lives of LGBTQ Palestinians.

The photographers chose to tell their own tales of home during the coronavirus pandemic. These are their stories.

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