Visitors to the 10th Xposure International Photography Festival (2026) were confronted with the long shadow cast by war, as Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice presented “Lionheart: The Story of Saleh”, a two-decade photographic record of a life permanently altered by conflict.

The project follows Saleh Khalaf, an Iraqi boy who was brought to the San Francisco Bay Area at the age of nine for life-saving medical treatment after losing both hands in a bomb explosion during the early days of the invasion of Iraq. More than 20 years later, Fitzmaurice’s work traces Saleh’s transition into adulthood as a refugee in the United States, living with lasting physical injuries and the less visible consequences of war.

What began as a story of survival has evolved into a sustained examination of the enduring physical, psychological, and social effects of conflict. Fitzmaurice told audiences that the project was never meant to conclude quickly. “I thought I was done in 2005,” she said, recalling her first encounter with Saleh while on assignment at the hospital where he was being treated. “But it’s not often a story comes to you where you can address a huge issue in such a personal way. That carries responsibility.”

Beyond key milestones, Lionheart documents Saleh’s daily life: repeated job rejections, encounters with crime, and the persistence of trauma long after the war receded from headlines.

“He applies for a lot of jobs and even shows up for interviews but doesn’t eventually get hired after potential employers realise he has no hands,” Fitzmaurice said. “This is what the effect of war looks like.”

Fitzmaurice described her approach as one rooted in dignity and continuity rather than spectacle. “I tried to document daily life, not just milestones,” she said. “To show the human side.”

During the session, she stressed that trauma does not end when conflict does. “The trauma is still there,” she said, noting that long-term consequences are often absent from public conversations about war. “Saleh puts a face on those effects, and I don’t want people to forget that.”

First photographed in a hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area, Lionheart now spans 22 years and reflects the power of long-form documentary practice. Fitzmaurice’s work has appeared in National Geographic, TIME Magazine, and The New York Times Magazine.

The landmark 10th edition of Xposure brings more than 420 internationally recognised photographers, filmmakers, and visual artists to Aljada, Sharjah, from January 29 to February 4, under the theme “A Decade of Visual Storytelling”.