--- description: Alan became a symbol of all the Syrian children who lost their lives trying to reach safety title: Alan Kurdi's Story: Behind The Most Heartbreaking Photo of 2015 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt677cfe3231c70c58/698862215f570f3c3db1d3a8/time-i-migrant-crisis-drowned-boy-kos.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Alan Kurdi's Story: Behind The Most Heartbreaking Photo of 2015 by [Bryan Walsh](/author/bryan-walsh/) and [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) Dec 29, 2015 7:24 PM CUT  A Turkish gendarme carries the body of Alan Kurdi, 3, who drowned along with his brother Galip, 5, and their mother, in a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos, in the coastal town of Bodrum, Turkey, on Sept. 2, 2015. A Turkish gendarme carries the body of Alan Kurdi, 3, who drowned along with his brother Galip, 5, and their mother, in a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos, in the coastal town of Bodrum, Turkey, on Sept. 2, 2015.Reuters by [Bryan Walsh](/author/bryan-walsh/) and [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) Dec 29, 2015 7:24 PM CUT Alan Kurdi was one of a million. In the summer of 2015, the three-year-old Syrian boy of Kurdish origins and his family fled the war engulfing their country, hoping to join relatives in the safety of Canada. They were part of a historic flow of refugees from the Middle East to Europe this year, and they followed the dangerous route taken by so many others. In the early hours of Sept. 2, the family crowded onto a small inflatable boat on the beach of Bodrum, Turkey. A few minutes into the journey to Greece, the dinghy capsized. Alan, his older brother Ghalib and his mother Rihanna all drowned, joining the more than 3,600 other refugees who died in the eastern Mediterranean this year. And that is where Alan’s story would have ended, were it not for the work of a photographer. When Nilüfer Demir came upon the beach, the Turkish photographer for the Dogan New Agency said in a recent interview it was like a “children’s graveyard.” She took photos of Alan’s lifeless body. Alan’s body had washed up along the shore, half in the sand and half in the water. His sneakers were still on his feet. Demer’s photographs, shared by Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch on social media, went viral almost instantly. In death, Alan became a symbol of all the children who lost their lives trying to reach safety in Europe and the West, the face of the biggest story of 2015. **_Bryan Walsh_** _is the editor of TIME International and you can follow him_ [_@bryanwalsh_](https://mobile.twitter.com/bryanrwalsh?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor "undefined") _Follow_ **_TIME LightBox_** _on_ [_Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/timemagazinephoto "undefined")_,_ [_Twitter_](https://twitter.com/timepictures "undefined") _and_ [_Instagram_](https://instagram.com/timelightbox/ "undefined")_._ _Read next:_ * [Father of Drowned Syrian Boy Begs World to Accept Refugees](http://time.com/4160649/abdullah-kurdi-holiday-plea-for-syrian-immigrants/ "undefined") * [What the Image of Alan Kurdi Says About the Power of Photography](http://time.com/4022765/aylan-kurdi-photo/ "undefined") * [See Front Pages From Around the World Showing Drowned Syrian Boy](http://time.com/4021560/drowned-syrian-boy-aylan-kurdi-photo-front-page/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4162306/alan-kurdi-syria-drowned-boy-refugee-crisis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4162306/alan-kurdi-syria-drowned-boy-refugee-crisis/"},"headline":"Alan Kurdi's Story: Behind The Most Heartbreaking Photo of 2015","datePublished":"2015-12-29T19:24:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:00:42.899Z","description":"The photographer talks about the day she took the image and its impact on the world","url":"https://time.com/4162306/alan-kurdi-syria-drowned-boy-refugee-crisis/","keywords":["LightBox","Refugees","photography","video","migration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt677cfe3231c70c58/698862215f570f3c3db1d3a8/time-i-migrant-crisis-drowned-boy-kos.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Bryan Walsh","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/bryan-walsh/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt677cfe3231c70c58/698862215f570f3c3db1d3a8/time-i-migrant-crisis-drowned-boy-kos.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Aylan Kurdi boy drowned","caption":"Aylan Kurdi boy drowned","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4162306/alan-kurdi-syria-drowned-boy-refugee-crisis/","name":"Alan Kurdi's Story: Behind The Most Heartbreaking Photo of 2015"}}]}] ```