New Canadians put Peterborough in focus at annual Spark Photo Festival

New Canadians have the city in frame at this year’s Spark Photo Festival in Peterborough.

The sixth annual event features exhibits throughout the city.

Among those is one by a group of seven new Canadians who have been learning photography.

Faadel Al Asfari, 13, arrived in Peterborough two years ago after leaving his native Syria with family.

“We had a very long trip from Syria — we’ve went to places such as Egypt, Bahrain and UAE — mostly in the Gulf and the Middle East,” he said.

“Personally, from my experience, I really couldn’t do anything in these places — it was very lifeless and hard to live in.”

He’s now using those experiences to capture his current environment in the Lift Lock city.

“Being here, I found such a different tone [with] the nature and the beauty here,” he said.

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“First of all, there are all four seasons, which I found very exciting — especially the snow and winter seasons, and it just has such a lively feel to it.”

Festival director Robert Boudreau says he’s proud of the new photographers and their courage to put their work on public display.

The festival features 50 exhibits by artists of all ages.

“As you grow as a photographer, sometimes you have intent behind your pictures,” Boudreau said. “So you want to show something else — you have a message you want to convey, and all of that can be done with photography.”

Al Asfari says the festival allows him to express his creativity — a freedom he never had growing up in war-torn Syria.

“I personally just wanted to change a lot, as I have been very isolated in my other countries. I have always had a lot of creativity and I’ve always wanted to experience more of that,” he said.