Children climb a tree on the grounds of a school in La Rivera Hernandez, a neighborhood in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, that is notorious for high levels of violence in a city that has some of the highest homicide rates in the world.
The photographs portray normal scenes of childhood: kids jumping rope, climbing trees, playing in the street.
But what makes the images striking is the context. These children are living in parts of the world struggling with war, extreme violence and poverty.
"By depicting children as resilient in the face of insecurity, we are bringing attention to the wrongs they're experiencing and how they find joy in the world despite immense adversity," says Tara Pixley, who co-curated the exhibit with Lauren Tate Baeza.
Half of the images in the show come from American photojournalist Danielle Villasana, who documented women and child refugees in Nigeria, Myanmar and Honduras. The other photographers are Diana Cervantes, Jasmine Clarke, Meghan Dhaliwal, Stephanie Eley and Alexis Hunley.
"These children are growing up in neighborhoods that rob them of opportunity and a childhood," says Villasana. "But they are still having moments of playfulness and doing things that kids do everywhere."
Here is a selection of Villasana's images.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
/ Danielle Villasana
/
Danielle Villasana
Halima Ibrahim, 30, with her daughter. After her village was attacked, Ibrahim was forced to live under Boko Haram rule for nine months in Monguno, Nigeria, where insurgents would threaten to kill people in front of them as intimidation. After the military rescued people in captivity, she reunited with her husband in Maiduguri, where she lives in a refugee camp with him and their children.
/ Danielle Villasana
/
Danielle Villasana
Zara, 19, was forced to live in Nigeria's Sambisa Forest, Boko Haram's headquarters, after her husband joined the insurgents when their daughter was only two months old. This portrait was taken at a safe house in Maiduguri, where women who have suffered sexual assault, forced marriage or other abuses at the hands of the insurgents are provided support.
/ Danielle Villasana
/
Danielle Villasana
Amina, who has suffered forced marriage and captivity at the hands of Boko Haram from the age of 13, now lives in a safe house in northeastern Nigeria where she says there's peace and security. For her future, she hopes to go to school and to get married one day.
/ Danielle Villasana
/
Danielle Villasana
Students jump rope during recess at a school for orphaned children in Maiduguri, Nigeria, where many have a parent who was killed by Boko Haram.
/ Danielle Villasana
/
Danielle Villasana
Rohingya women and children walk through a refugee camp outside of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, where nearly one million people have taken refuge, many with visible wounds and scars from human rights abuses committed against them in Myanmar.
/ Danielle Villasana
/
Danielle Villasana
A young girl walks along the streets of a neighborhood in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, which has some of the highest homicide rates in the world due to violence from gangs and police.
Prosecutors are scheduled to begin their arguments today against the rap mogul, who is accused of racketeering and sex trafficking. Here is an overview of Combs' career and the charges he faces.
Some of the microplastics we ingest may come from the kitchen tools we use to prepare what we eat. If you want to reduce your reliance on plastic, here are some ideas.
In a time of aggressive immigration enforcement, some international musicians are deciding that going through the complicated process of getting a U.S. artist visa may not be worth the financial and safety risks.
American levies on Chinese goods will drop from at least 145% to 30% for an initial period of 90 days, while Chinese levies are set to fall from at least 125% to 10% on American goods.
The Kurdish militant group announced a historic decision Monday to disband and disarm, after four decades of armed conflict. It comes days after it convened a party congress in northern Iraq.