Real Lives, beyond idiosyncrasies, of Palestinians in pictures
Posted on: April 15, 2014
Lives of Palestinians in pictures
If you are considering a visit to Palestine and had never traveled there before, you need not imagine that going there is quite dangerous.
In the mainstream media, images of conflict permeate, along with the tragedy that is expressed afterwards.
While it may be interpreted as a melancholy environment, where an endless dissension between two people groups continues, there is still the spirit of life.
One that each human participates in, whether in an conflicted area or not.
East-Jerusalem based photographer Tanya Habjouqa has focused her work on photographing the Palestinian communities of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
She captures a way of life that is not always seen by the public eye. Her series is titled “Occupied Pleasures,” and displays the Palestinian community enjoying the pleasures of life as any person would.
SHAWN SALEME posted this April 8, 2014
The Rarely-Seen Lives of Palestinians
Photographed by Tanya Habjouqa
Teenage girls try on dresses for an upcoming dance at their private school in Ramallah.
Bodybuilders in Gaza show off the results of their work.
The images are striking yet simple and garnered her a World Press Photo award. Regarding the Occupied Pleasures work, Habjouqa says:
“More than 4 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, where the political situation regularly intrudes upon the most mundane of moments. Movement is circumscribed and threat of violence often hangs overhead.
This creates the strongest of desires for the smallest of pleasures, and a sharp sense of humor about the absurdities that a 47-year occupation has produced.
This is an exploration of the moments where ordinary men and women demonstrate a desire to live, not just simply survive.”
A family and friends play cards on the roof in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp of Bethlehem
A yoga class in the outskirts of Bethlehem in the village of Zataara.
Students from the Al-Quds University javelin team finish up one last practice before the summer holiday begins.
A few boys enjoy a cool break from the heat in a small kiddie pool in the West Bank village of Kufr Ni’ma.
Two young women enjoy the view on the way up to the “Mount of Temptation” in a cable car in Jericho.
Young men enjoy some shisha in the natural setting of Ein Qiniya. A few Israeli settlements are nearby.
On the way to the Eid Celebration, a man enjoys a cigarette on the last day of Ramadan in the West Bank.
Some women model at the Intercontinental Bethlehem for upcoming designer Nadya Hazbunova.
The Gaza Parkour team practices in a cemetery on the outskirts of their refugee camp in Khan Younis, Gaza.
After final high school examinations, youth in Gaza flock to the sea and to the fun fair to let off steam
Two furniture makers take a break in a pair of plush armchairs (of their creation) in the open-air in Hizma, against Israel’s 26-foot high Separation Wall.
14 year old Sabah Abu Ghanim, Gaza’s famous girl surfer, waits to catch a wave
A young fiancee goes wedding dress shopping in Gaza. Her future husband is working in Libya, where she hopes to join him.
A mobile toy store van cruises along the Gaza beach highway.
A young boy takes his donkey for a swim, and attempts to get him out near Gaza’s Deir al-Balah refugee camp.
A family enjoys a picnic in Ein Qiniya, the nearest nature spot for families in Ramallah
via featureshoot
Shawn Saleme is a full time writer for Visual News.
Having traveled to over 45 countries, his international escapades continue to influence his writing and perspective. When not in a foreign territory, he makes his home in his native San Francisco Bay Area. Become friends with him on Facebook and invite him to share drinks and stories with you.
Read more at http://www.visualnews.com/2014/04/08/rarely-seen-lives-palestinians-photographed-tanya-habjouqa/#8y9IuYgvElL2sQf8.99
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