Yemen at the breaking point

Yemen at the Breaking Point

Where the world looked away, humanity remained

Yemen is a place where everything felt like it was breaking at once. What was once just hard had become impossible. This wasn’t another war story; it was a nation unraveling in slow motion. My photographs from Yemen reflect that unraveling: fractured cities, resilient people, and quiet moments weighed down by something immense and unrelenting.

Since 2015, Yemen has endured one of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes. What began as a political rebellion escalated into a grinding, multi-sided conflict. The Saudi-led coalition’s intervention against the Houthi movement intensified the destruction. Blockades and airstrikes trapped civilians in crisis.

Years earlier, I covered the flash point of Yemen’s Arab Spring protests, an especially tense and exhausting chapter. The crowds, the crackdowns, the uncertainty in the air. It was a moment when the country stood on the edge of possibility, but the promise of change quickly gave way to deeper instability.

I witnessed neighborhoods reduced to rubble, marketplaces abandoned, and children navigating ruins as though it were normal. And in the midst of that, mothers, doctors, local aid workers, and elders all carried on, not out of hope exactly, but because there was no other choice. Yemen taught me something about the dignity people can preserve, even as the systems around them collapse.

I was there to see some of the last remaining Yemeni Jews quietly flee the country, leaving behind centuries of tradition and community in a land that no longer made space for them. I also documented Somali refugees landing on Yemen’s southern coast after crossing the Sea of Aden, fleeing famine and violence only to arrive in a war zone even more brutal than the one they left behind.

My work took me through Houthi-controlled areas, government-held zones, and regions destabilized by groups like AQAP and ISIS. Every checkpoint told a different version of the same story: survival. Food shortages, fuel scarcity, broken hospitals, and impassable roads were the norm. Yet there was always someone offering tea. Always a face that asked to be remembered.

A man with a hat sitting on the edge of a boat, gazing at the ocean during daytime. Yemen
A group of men and boys participating in a demonstration or rally, holding and waving flags with red, white, and black horizontal stripes. Yemen, Arab Spring.
Protesters marching in a street rally holding flags and signs, some with Arabic text, during daytime with city buildings and a bright sky in the background. Yemen, Arab Spring.
A woman wearing a patterned shawl and carrying a yellow plastic container walks through a refugee camp with tents labeled 'UNHCR' under a clear blue sky. Yemen
A young woman wearing a black embroidered dress, a pearl necklace, and a green headscarf stands next to a stone wall with a mountainous desert landscape in the background. Yemen.
A family sitting inside a vehicle, with a woman holding a sleeping child, a man sitting next to them, all appearing serious, in daytime. Yemen.
Cityscape of a densely populated area with numerous beige and white buildings, a mosque with a white dome and minarets, and mountains in the background. Taiz, Yemen.
Group of men sitting inside a vehicle, some holding onto a tarp or canopy overhead, with sunlight filtering through trees outside. Yemen.
Three men sitting at a table sharing a meal, with two of them holding lime wedges and a bowl of yellow soup in front of them, in an outdoor setting with other people in the background. Yemen
A woman in a black hijab giving food to children in a classroom with open windows. Yemen.
Coastal city with a beach, cars parked near the shore, and white buildings in the background, under a hazy sky. Aiden, Yemen.
Dry desert landscape with sparse trees, rocky mountains in the background, and a small weathered structure on the right side under a clear blue sky. Yemen.
Cityscape with numerous buildings and mountains in the background. Taiz, Yemen.
Two young men working at traditional wooden looms, weaving fabric in a modest room with a striped curtain hanging in the background. Yemen.
A young person wearing traditional clothing, including a white headscarf, walking through a desert-like area with wooden structures and mountains in the background. Yemen.
A dry, rocky landscape with a refugee camp consisting of makeshift tents made from fabric and wood in the background, and a few people walking across the barren ground. Yemen.
Tent encampment in desert with a clear blue sky and distant mountains. Yemen.
A young girl getting a vaccination from a healthcare worker in a room with floral curtains and a window air conditioner. Yemen.
People standing in line inside a building with wooden framing and corrugated metal walls. Yemen.
Woman in colorful attire serving food through a window to a long line of people inside a building. Yemen.
A woman wearing a purple and white headscarf standing in a desert camp with beige tents and mountains in the background. Yemen.
A group of Somali women sitting inside a makeshift shelter with some looking concerned or distressed; one woman in the foreground is holding her head and looking directly at the camera. Yemen.
A group of young boys and men gathered outdoors in a sunny area, some holding bags, with makeshift buildings and a stone wall in the background. Yemen.
A small green pickup truck parked on a rocky, sandy shoreline with a mountain range in the background and a factory with smokestacks across the water. Yemen.
Night scene at a busy outdoor market in India with a man in white traditional attire talking on a phone, surrounded by bicycles and stalls, illuminated by hanging lights, and brick buildings in the background. Sanaa, Yemen.
A group of men, including an elderly man with a gray beard and traditional cap, engaged in conversation in a room. The man on the right in a green jacket is holding a pen and appears to be listening to the elderly man. Yemen.
A cityscape with closely packed buildings on rugged hills and mountains in the background, featuring a white mosque with two minarets in the foreground. Taiz, Yemen.
A young girl wearing a white traditional dress and headscarf peering out from behind a weathered wooden structure on a dry, sandy landscape. Yemen.
A street food vendor grilling kebabs on skewers at night, with two men in front of the stall engaging in conversation, one pointing and the other holding a cigarette. The scene is dimly lit with a busy background. Sanaa, Yemen.
A group of children and adults standing on a dusty street in a rural area, with one person leaning on a structure and the rest looking towards the camera, under a clear sky. Yemen.
Two young children in traditional clothing walking on a sandy beach with the sea and blue sky in the background. Yemen.
A harbor with numerous colorful boats anchored near a rocky shoreline, some with outboard motors and people on board, with a shoreline and buildings in the background under a clear sky. Yemen.
Two men eating Indian-style meal with grilled fish, rice, curry, and other dishes at a table. Yemen
A man with a gray beard and mustache, wearing a patterned headscarf, sitting in a classroom with a chalkboard and window in the background. Yemen
Group of people gathered around a table outdoors, engaging in discussion or storytelling, with some holding cash and a water bottle visible, in front of a building with patterned windows. Yemen.
A man with a mustache, wearing a traditional head covering and white shirt, is sitting at a market stall surrounded by piles of spices with colorful packages on shelves behind him. Yemen.
A man sitting on the ground in a market with bags of dried herbs or spices around him, inside a rustic building with weathered walls and old doors. Yemen.
Young girl standing in the middle of a dusty street with old cars and brick buildings in the background. Yemen.
A street protest with people holding knives and machetes, some with portraits of political figures, in a crowded urban area. Yemen Arab Spring.
A large gathering of people, mostly men, attending a public event or rally outdoors. Many are dressed in traditional Middle Eastern clothing and some are wearing head coverings. There are a few flags visible, including a blue flag with a lion symbol.
A man baking pizza in a traditional stone oven with a bright flame inside, surrounded by pizza toppings and baking tools. Yemen.
Children playing soccer on a bustling street market with vendors selling food and goods, surrounded by old buildings with narrow alleys. Yemen.
People walking on a busy city sidewalk with cars in the background during sunset or sunrise. Yemen.
Silhouettes of people shopping at an outdoor market during sunset, with buildings and mountains in the background. Yemen.
Two men in traditional attire riding a motorcycle through a busy market with colorful umbrellas and tents in the background. Yemen.
A busy marketplace in an old city with traditional architecture, vendors selling items, and people shopping at sunset, viewed through an arched stone entrance. Yemen,
A bustling spice market with various colorful spices in large open sacks and a man scooping spices into a container, with sunlight streaming in from the right side. Yemen
A woman in a colorful patterned headscarf is serving rice from a plate through a window to a person outside in a crowded indoor setting with bright natural light. Yemen.