The following series of images is part of a larger body of work which I realized at Mehwar Center, an organization which offers shelter, protection and counseling to Palestinian women who are victims of domestic violence. These activities are of the utmost importance in a context where women are exposed to increasing levels of violence, exacerbated by the stressful environment of the occupation. The Center is located in the countryside near the city of Beit Sahour.
The Center is committed to foster integration with the local community, and it provides a number of services which are open to the public. A kindergarten, a gym, a small cafeteria and some training facilities, for example, encourage the local population to approach the Center and to establish a positive relation with it and its inhabitants.
The Center is built like two concentric rings. The outer one is dedicated to activities and relations with the local community, while the inner one is the actual shelter home for around 20 women from all over the West Bank, and beyond. For their own safety, it is not possible to show these ladies, but the pictures below make an effort to recreate the atmosphere inside, beginning from a counseling session.
The impossibility to photograph the ladies inside the shelter required coming up with some creative solutions for showing their daily life in their private spaces. I found this challenge very interesting, and I often played with the depth of field so as to blur their faces behind some objects in the foreground.
It was a great experience spending two days inside the shelter, trying to capture the unique atmosphere of a place where, despite all fears and sorrows, simple humanity shines.
The Center is committed to foster integration with the local community, and it provides a number of services which are open to the public. A kindergarten, a gym, a small cafeteria and some training facilities, for example, encourage the local population to approach the Center and to establish a positive relation with it and its inhabitants.
The Center is built like two concentric rings. The outer one is dedicated to activities and relations with the local community, while the inner one is the actual shelter home for around 20 women from all over the West Bank, and beyond. For their own safety, it is not possible to show these ladies, but the pictures below make an effort to recreate the atmosphere inside, beginning from a counseling session.
The impossibility to photograph the ladies inside the shelter required coming up with some creative solutions for showing their daily life in their private spaces. I found this challenge very interesting, and I often played with the depth of field so as to blur their faces behind some objects in the foreground.
It was a great experience spending two days inside the shelter, trying to capture the unique atmosphere of a place where, despite all fears and sorrows, simple humanity shines.
Beautiful work! I like how you used the depth fo field to hide the identities of hte women instead focusing on banal objects that in the end tell us so much!! how did you get the 'spinning' effect in the last picture? It reminds me of my spinning photograph of the stairs in Morocco ;) I'm curious too Andrea - did you just ask if you could take photos and they just let you like that? I still have such comprehension (if you remember) about asking for permission..instead I prefer not to photograph people, which, I know makes little sense...?
ReplyDelete