Sam Levy

Sam Levy is a freelance writer and editor living in Austin, Texas. She received a Master of Liberal Arts with a thesis in poetry writing from St. Edward’s University in 2016 and an MFA in creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University in 2023. Her poetry has appeared in Gemini Magazine, Better Than Starbucks, The Bond Street Review, The Art of Everyone, and Alternate Route, and her fiction has appeared in Fiction on the Web.

Serge Lecomte

Serge Lecomte was born in Belgium. He came to the States where he spent his teens in South Philly and then Brooklyn. After graduating from Tilden H. S. he joined the Medical Corps in the Air Force. He earned an MA and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Russian Literature with a minor in French Literature. He worked as a Green Beret language instructor at Fort Bragg, NC from 1975-78. In 1988 he received a B.A. from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Spanish Literature. He worked as a language teacher at the University of Alaska (1978-1997). He worked as a house builder, pipe-fitter, orderly in a hospital, gardener, landscaper, driller for an assaying company, bartender and painter.

Saji

My name is Saji, and I am a 29-year-old Iranian photographer, human rights activist, and DJ based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. My work is a passionate attempt to capture the fight and hope of the Iranian diaspora through the lens of my camera.

This current project is a photographic series documenting the Iranian diaspora protests in Frankfurt. These protests, held in various central locations of the city, aim to amplify the voices of Iranians seeking for freedom and justice. Through my lens, I seek to portray the raw emotion, and collective solidarity of a people who refuse to be silenced despite the brutality of a dictatorship targeting them every day.

Since the inception of the Woman, Life, Freedom revolution, I have been committed to participating in the protests in cities across Europe, including Bologna, Turin, and Rome. This revolution is not just a movement; it is a form of resistance against a ruthless totalitarian regime to gain fundamental human rights and dignity, and my photographs seek to preserve these powerful moments of collectiveness and hope.

Some photograph tries to portray the messages Iranian people ask the world to see, some pictures of the victims, and some are about the feelings of the moment.

In addition to my work as a protest photographer, I am also passionate about portrait photography. This duality allows me to explore the personal and the political, capturing both the individual stories and the broader struggles that define our times. My portraits seek to reveal the depth of human experience via colors and innovations, while my protest photography aspires to highlight the collective power of community and the fight for freedom.

Through my art, I aim to bridge the gap between worlds of mind and reality, to create a new way of seeing, and to ensure that the stories of those who fight for justice are heard and remembered. My camera is my voice.