We All Live in Gaza 

Project Rationale

                                                                                       

There is an Arabic phrase "Inshallah".  It translates as "God willing".   And it is heard in Gaza’s taxi cabs, cafés, work places, and homes constantly.   It’s often spoken with a great deal of irony as literally all Gazans do not know their future from day to day.

 

There is the overriding economic and military siege that impacts every aspect of daily life and there is the constant presence of instant horrific death, a by-product of the completely asymmetrical conflict that finds Israel using one of the world's largest arsenals along the border.   Yet at the same time there is an intense pride in the population determined to live as normal a life as possible.

 

After living sixteen months in Gaza shooting stills and video I screened the rough cut of the video documentary in a public showing before leaving the territory.   The largest criticism I received was “you are showing too many donkey carts”.   In essence the critique was saying you are showing “too much misery.”   In similar screenings in Europe and the U.S. the critique has been “you are not showing enough misery.”

 

In propagating this project a similar conundrum is being faced.  By showing a predominance of grief, destruction and suffering, the fear is of a viewer shrugging it off….”enough already, I know the people of Gaza are hurting…show me something I don’t know.”  By showing a picture of daily life where commerce, education, family life continues under incredibly difficut conditions, the fear is that the audience will again shrug…..”well life doesn’t seem so bad, why should I bother getting steamed up about it.”

 

The solution then has to be to communicate an honest story and show it well.   There are few places on earth where one can viscerally feel history being made around you on a constant basis.   There are multiple parallel story lines all taking place simultaneously.   And there is a critical bottom line issue in play; the civil rights of Gazan citizens have been striped away from them by a foreign power that is maintaining a siege and occupation.

 

When asked, most Gazans will say that ending the siege is their dominant concern, that if it ends, the other issues will start to take care of themselves.   This is probably most likely the case.  But, of course, it begs the question how and when will the siege end.

 

Which brings us back to the main threads of the photo installtion; life for the people of Gaza.

 

My mission as a photojournalist is to chronicle this important and unique story; to help the people of Gaza communicate from the “inside” to the “outside.” 

 

It is a sincere desire to bring Gaza to the West.  To help facilitate the people of Gaza to share their images, their stories their hopes, fears and aspirations.