Photographing Ali, Aleppo, and the ‘mother of all battles’
A photojournalist who covered Syria’s civil war tells the story of a young rebel fighter he met.
![Ali, a rebel fighter, gestures for victory after firing a shoulder-fired rocket towards a building where Syrian troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were hiding as they attempted to gain terrain against the rebels during heavy clashes in the Jedida district of Aleppo, Syria, on November 4, 2012 [Narciso Contreras]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/HL_CONTRERAS_war_in_syria-18.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
![In a photo from November 29, 2012, night falls on a rebel-controlled area of Aleppo as destroyed buildings, including Dar Al Shifa hospital, are seen on Sa'ar street after airstrikes had targeted it a week before [Narciso Contreras]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CONTRERAS_die_together_01.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Revisiting five months in a hospital that was at the heart of Syria’s rebellion.
A photojournalist who covered Syria’s civil war tells the story of a young rebel fighter he met.