Tracey_Shelton_Syria

There are so many. It really is an emotional roller coaster. You have extreme highs and lows all the time. One time that comes to mind happened when I was covering an air raid in Aleppo that killed an entire extended family. After 6 hours volunteer rescuers were still pulling the bodies of children from the rubble - and then they found a 1-year-old baby boy, Hussein, alive and unscathed. He was found cradled in his mothers arms. She died saving him. Here's the video if you want to see it. Another was the birth of a baby in a rain storm one night while I was staying with a family in Jabal al Zawia. That was really incredible to be a part of. We all thought the baby wouldn't make it and maybe the mother as well. Seeing the family hold that baby later was really moving. This is an article I wrote about the birth

I think when tragedy is unexpected it is much harder to deal with. I see families in Libya having a harder time now dealing with the death of a sick relative than they did with the death of several family members on the frontline during the revolution. When you are mentally prepared to deal with death it is still horrific but the shock factor is somewhat removed. For me, I have lost many friends and seen people I was close to or admired killed, like Libyan rebel commanders Ali Alobedi and Abdolfattah Albosaify, and Free Syrian Army fighter Humza Fattalah, and others injured or kidnapped - like my colleague James Foley. That's never easy but knowing why you are out there and believing fully in the importance of what you are doing helps in dealing with the loss and to keep going.

1. Aside from the obvious ability to work a camera and write a news story, I would say it's being able to immerse myself in a new culture or atmosphere and interact with people on a personal level to better understand them and what they are going through.
2. For me I think if I separated myself emotionally from what is going on I couldn't convey the situation to people the way I aim to. I can't explain how it feels to live amid conflict if I don't feel it at least to some extent. I don't fly in and out of the area that I am covering. I live there and it becomes my home and the local people become my friends. It is necessary to keep enough distance to not form opinions or take sides but I don't think this should affect your humanity. As far as intervening, I have on occasion helped people that were injured when there was no one else more qualified.

I started photography at Santa's Kingdom in Dublin. Worked my way into photojournalism and began writing when I got my first freelance photographer gig in Cambodia. My first written piece was on the exploitative industry of "Orphanage Tourism". It got a big response in Cambodia and I hope raised a lot of awareness.

I have applied for Syrian visas and would love to cover the government side as well but so far no luck. When you enter via the rebel territory you are entering the country illegally so to encounter government troops you would be arrested and technically the arrest would be justified. To make sure my coverage is more balanced I work to find civilians who support the government. This is one example if you are interested