Sadness, fear, pride, and courage in their eyes show me how confused they are about the upcoming breaking point in their lives.
Do they come here to protest or to celebrate? It’s truly impossible to tell from the outside. They themselves likely haven’t figured it out either, but I would assume it’s both at the same time. Facing the last hundred days of carefree youth, they are forced to celebrate loudly, even though it is far from their own choice.
100 days before conscription — Max Jei — Limassol, Cyprus, Mar 2018
In some conversations after this shoot, I noticed a clear, biased condemnation — people say, “They are marginals, they create nothing but noise, waste time, and disturb others.” I felt as though I, too, was being condemned, simply for showing this with pure curiosity and an empathetic attitude.
Are we in a position to judge and blame them for protesting against what we ourselves have imposed on them? Whatever we see in these still largely dependent young people comes from us — from the decisions we have or haven’t made.
