The nature of Anja Niedringhaus' work means taking photographs under extreme conditions. She deliberately seeks out these kinds of extreme experiences because they bring her closer to her subjects and herself. This experience is often lost to the normal observer, for whom the context tends to undermine the drama. Her works focus on people: soldiers, weary and traumatized civilians, prisoners of war. Her photographs show faces marked by exhaustion, desperation, and tension-yet again and again, they reveal brief, unexpected moments of laughter, lightheartedness, and joy amid the suffering. The photographer approaches her subjects with curiosity and understanding, never compromising their dignity