Women of Gaza by Tanya Habjouqa (April 1, 2010) 
(82 votes, average: 4.48 out of 5)
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Categories / Documentary Portraiture / Human Interest / / Click here to open comments section, click again when done to close / 3 Comments
Introduction by Margo de Beijer
Tanya’s families struck me in my core as I can relate them to my own life being a parent and someones love. Loving my children, caring for them with all the energy I can find, some days overflowing with difficulties, the strain of living with teenagers, the never ending care but also the reward of great love by my own relatives. I find myself drawn to Tanya’s work as it turns out that even in a tense area such as Gaza, she was able to capture the same feelings most of us tend to share in parenthood as well as love. It goes to show the great resilience we are all capable of, even in the face of great adversity.
“In places like Gaza where the devastation is almost unimaginable, I am fascinated by the community spirit and elegance that prevails. Life continues, and so do the traditions and self-respect–a resistance to letting suffering be the standard definition. Women are continuing to care for their families, strive for education, and pursue careers.” Tanya Habjouqa
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Our poll "A photo essay always needs a great written story" closed. 267 people voted, 28% agrees, 72% disagrees. 233 people answered our follow-up question "Are you a photographer?" 82% indicated they are, 18% said no. Initially, negative answers to question #1 were almost 100% as was the pecentage of photographers among respondants. Then, when the level of non-photographers started to rise, the percentage of people indicating good text is always essential started to rise too. This seems to indicate that non-photographers think that adding good text to your photo essays is essential. In my opinion: if you want non-photographers to dig your work, you know what to do...
Forgetting is not an option in the seemingly eternal and interwoven conflicts of the Middle East. Increasingly finding myself distanced from hard news, I am drawn to the humor and contradiction prevalent within the diversity of Middle Eastern culture(s).
I want to provoke the audience to reflect on regional social issues, stereotypes, and realities. The perpetual images of blood, suffering, and conflict are not the only defining characteristics of the Middle East.
I aim to find the balance between jarring a misrepresentation of Arabs through a perpetual lens of violence while simultaneously tell stories that prompt Middle Easterners to nod in recognition, yet still challenge all audiences with the contradictions of a region in flux balancing its traditions.
Tanya Habjouqa has spent the last seven years documenting for media, academia, and humanitarian agencies inside Iraq, Darfur, Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
Habjouqa received the 2007 Clarion Award for Press Photography for her coverage of the Israel-Hezbollah war for Bloomberg and the 2006 Global Health Council award for humanitarian photography with her Darfur coverage. She is published in the Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe, Focus, Jerusalem Report, Beirut Daily Star, Business Week, NOX, Conde Naste, and Cultures of Resistance. Regular clients include Bloomberg, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), USAID Iraq, USAID West Bank/Gaza.
Tanya Habjouqa (1975) lives and works in Jerusalem.
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Posted in category 647
I’m impressed!!
Some photos need a second thought…
wonderful. as usual.
Wonderful