On the cover photo
On the cover photo
Emily Garthwaite
July 6, 2026
Sister Makrina is a rare phenomenon: the Benedictine nun has dedicated a large part of her life in service of the reconstruction of the Yazidi community. She travels regularly to northern Iraq, to re-green the war-ravaged landscape. Emily Garthwaite told us more about the portrait.
“I’d known of Sister Makrina’s work for years before we even met. She is a Benedictine nun from California who has learned Kurmanji, housed 170 Yazidi refugees in a monastery in Germany, and then sought to help in restoring and regenerating their homeland. When I finally travelled to Shingal in October 2025 to document the work of her Regenerate Shingal project, it was partly to witness what she had set in motion.
On the morning of October 15, 2025, as I stood on the dusty track and saw her heading toward the Jamaya Sheikh Mand shrine at the base of Mount Sinjar, I felt something crystallise. As she passed the burnt-out car – a remnant of ISIS’s genocide against the Yazidi people –, and the large mass grave marked delicately by the community at the edge, I captured what Sister Makrina embodied: an enduring spirit, an absolute belief that this desertified and scarred land could be transformed. By then, I had already seen what is possible with my own eyes. The farms were flourishing nearby, with revived olive groves and rebuilt water systems. What seemed impossible was becoming real, and I believed in it too.
Since then, Sister Makrina has become a close friend. When I look at this photograph of her, I see her defiant humility and her unwavering determination to stand alongside the Yazidi people as they rebuild their sacred spaces.”
“I’d known of Sister Makrina’s work for years before we even met. She is a Benedictine nun from California who has learned Kurmanji, housed 170 Yazidi refugees in a monastery in Germany, and then sought to help in restoring and regenerating their homeland. When I finally travelled to Shingal in October 2025 to document the work of her Regenerate Shingal project, it was partly to witness what she had set in motion.
On the morning of October 15, 2025, as I stood on the dusty track and saw her heading toward the Jamaya Sheikh Mand shrine at the base of Mount Sinjar, I felt something crystallise. As she passed the burnt-out car – a remnant of ISIS’s genocide against the Yazidi people –, and the large mass grave marked delicately by the community at the edge, I captured what Sister Makrina embodied: an enduring spirit, an absolute belief that this desertified and scarred land could be transformed. By then, I had already seen what is possible with my own eyes. The farms were flourishing nearby, with revived olive groves and rebuilt water systems. What seemed impossible was becoming real, and I believed in it too.
Since then, Sister Makrina has become a close friend. When I look at this photograph of her, I see her defiant humility and her unwavering determination to stand alongside the Yazidi people as they rebuild their sacred spaces.”
Text and image: © Emily Garthwaite
EQUIPMENT: Leica M11-P, Summilux-M 28 f/1.4
LFI 5.2026+-
The full story of Sister Makrina, along with many more photographs by Emily Garthwaite, can be found in LFI Magazine 5.2026. More
Emily Garthwaite+-
The British photojournalist’s main focus moves between coexistence, cultural memory and storytelling about nature and the environment. From trips along the Tigris and pilgrimages through Iraq, to hikes with nomads in Iran – Garthwaite’s work is rooted in long-format and socially engaged projects. She holds a Master’s in Documentary Photography and Photojournal- ism from the University of Westminster. More