A first glimpse at the picture hardly speaks of the image. But the caption that followed has sent goosebumps to users of the worldwide web. The picture was reportedly taken at a Syrian refugee camp by Turkish journalist Osman Sagirli, but it took the internet by storm when photojournalist Nadia AbuShaban tweeted it.
Seemingly a four-year-old, the Syrian child is pictured ‘surrendering’ after mistaking a camera for a gun. With a straight face and fearful eyes the toddler stares into the lens with pursed lips.
An Imgur user provides a translation of the newspaper excerpt and a name for the child: “His face suddenly drops. He squeezes his bottom lip between his teeth and gently lifts up his hands. Where he remains like that without a word. It is not exactly easy to cheer the child who thought the camera was a machine gun about to strike him. Adi Hudea, only four years old, lost his father in the Hama bombing. He came to Camp Atmen on the border of Syria/Turkey with his very nervous mother and three siblings.”
Everyone on Twitter poured their hearts out over this photo: