Look: American photojournalist Paula Bronstein to share images from war-torn communities at Xposure 2021 at Expo Centre Sharjah on Wednesday

Bangkok-based Bronstein has covered conflict in various zones during her three-decades long career. Her work has been instrumental in bringing awareness to compelling issues in many conflict regions. She is the author of award-winning and internationally acclaimed photo book ‘Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear’. Bronstein has worked as staff photographer for a variety of American newspapers for 15 years and as senior staff photographer at Getty Images for more than a decade. Covering war can be very unpredictable. Above, at the Emergency hospital Najiba holds her nephew Shabir, age 2, who was injured from a bomb blast which killed his sister in Kabul on March 29, 2016. Najiba had to stay with the children as their mother buried her daughter.

“I think you have to know your boundaries and understand the threat level and be prepared for the unexpected,” she tells Gulf News. Her work in Afghanistan spans around 20 years since the beginning of the war. In Afghanistan, she was working for Getty Images and also for a book project, so “it was important to look beyond the war”. She captured how Afghans live against the backdrop of an on-going conflict that effects their lives on a daily basis.

Bronstein says as a global photojournalist, it is important to adhere to the local customs and show respect for the culture. “Over the many years of working abroad, my field experiences have taken me to many Islamic countries as a female visual artist,” she recalls. Above, thousands of exhausted Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myanmar walk along a muddy rice field after crossing the border in Palang Khali, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

A Rohingya girl cries, traumatized after days of walking, with little sleep, as refugees fleeing from Myanmar wait in the hot sun on a muddy rice field near Palang Khali, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Well over 750,000 Rohingya refugees have fled into Bangladesh since the outbreak of violence in Rakhine state causing a humanitarian crisis in the region with continued challenges for aid agencies.

Opytne, eastern Ukraine, Mariya Gorpynych, age 76, lives alone. She holds new chicks delivered by ICRC as part of a humanitarian aid service for elderly that live alone. It also allows them to raise chickens for some income. She speaks with tears in her eyes when talking about the death of her son. Victor,48 was killed due to the war in 2016, he was fatally injured by shelling that hit the home. He died in her hands. Her husband, died in the same year from a heart attack from extreme stress of living too close to the front line. Mariya refuses to leave her village because her family are buried there."I have nowhere to flee, my whole family is buried here." "I got used to the continued shelling." Opytne is a war torn village on the contact line where only 43 people are left due to the dangers.

It was not easy to get the right shot during her work in Afghanistan. “Gaining trust woman-to-woman is easier than getting permission, in many countries like Afghanistan, the female subject was pleased that I cared and trusted my work ethics but getting your foot in the door is not easily done if your access depends on getting permission from the male head of household,” she says. Once, while working on a story about an Afghan widow she had to adapt to portraits because she wasn’t allowed to spend much time – due to security reasons but also “in some cases verbal harassment I received from other family members”. Spending time to get the real compelling images is not only important, it is essential, Bronstein says. Above, Masooma, age 18, who suffers with severe burns on 70% of her body from self-immolation shows her scars during a visit to the Herat Regional hospital Burn unit October 22, 2004 in Herat, Afghanistan.

Despite covering emotionally and politically charged incidents, the US photographer does not give away her personal opinions. “I am a neutral observer, not an activist. Covering both sides of a polarized, potentially violent protest in Portland, Oregon [for example] means you have to act appropriately without showing your political beliefs.” Above, Dora Negrete is consoled consoled by her son Hector Rocha after seeing their destroyed mobile home at the Talent Mobile Estates as wild fires devastate the region in Talent, Ore.

A Sudanese girl rests outside her tent as her mother stands nearby July 16, 2012 in Jamam refugee camp, South Sudan.

Bronstein highlights the plight elderly Ukranian people face during their 5-year-long war with Russia. With nearly a third of the country's humanitarian assistance going towards helping citizens over 60 years old, Ukraine's elderly bear the brunt of the country's humanitarian crisis. As seniors remain stuck in a war-torn region lacking livable conditions and economic stability, the aging population remains the most vulnerable.

Bronstein was “naturally drawn” to the plight of women’s issues and the problems they face. She has “been daunted by the strength and endurance of women” from Afghanistan to Sudan.

Paula Bronstein is an American award-winning freelance photojournalist based in Bangkok.

Many of her stories have dealt with “trying to bring a voice to women who had none”. He first trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan was 20 years ago, “which quickly taught me how females maintain a classic subordinate position in a male dominated world”.