{"id":25394,"date":"2023-03-05T10:46:31","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T08:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/?p=25394"},"modified":"2023-03-05T10:46:31","modified_gmt":"2023-03-05T08:46:31","slug":"home-under-siege-a-palestine-photo-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/home-under-siege-a-palestine-photo-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Under Siege: a Palestine Photo Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my last few weeks in Palestine, I purchased a film camera from an antique shop in Gaza and some rolls of film in Ramallah. I photographed different parts of Palestine \u2014 Haifa, Jerusalem, Lifta, Ramallah, and Gaza. Because the camera traveled with me through many Israeli checkpoints, the film got x-rayed and the photos turned out grainy, but still legible. The images struck me as an allegory for Palestinian resistance \u2014 continuously bearing the weight of occupation, but still very much alive, vibrant, and colorful.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Anam Raheem<\/h4>\n

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My favorite part of taking a photo is that little space between being struck by a moment and lifting the camera to eye level. The space where the seed of awe is planted before sprouting into inspired action. Photography is a microcosm of Mary Oliver\u2019s instructions for living: Pay attention. \/ Be astonished. \/ Tell about it.<\/em><\/p>\n

I moved to Palestine in 2017 for a job with an international aid agency and stayed for five years. As my time abroad was winding down, I bought a film camera on a whim from an antique store in Gaza. I carried it with me everywhere, a balm for the sting of separation. Photography has a way of stretching time. A fleeting moment of beauty \u2013 paused, elongated and re-lived through a viewfinder. And then, immortalized with a satisfying click.<\/p>\n

The camera traveled with me on my weekly commute in and out of Gaza, passing through the lengthy inspections and harsh x-rays of Israeli checkpoints. I had the film developed when I moved back home to New Jersey in 2021. The photo lab attendant was apologetic when I picked up the prints: The pictures are grainy. The film must have been damaged, like it was x-rayed or something.<\/em><\/p>\n

I opened the envelope, bracing myself for unintelligible photos. What I found were images that looked so much older than they were in reality. The photos unearth conflicting feelings: the dreamy haze evokes a mysterious romance, a mirror for the surrealism of memory. They also summon a deep sorrow for a land and people held back and worn down by a merciless, unrelenting force. Throughout it all, these pictures send me time traveling \u2013 repatriating my past self and dropping back into the quiet, subtle moments that comprise the first commandment of living \u2014 pay attention<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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