Storytelling with Photography

Entering photo competitions is a customary part of being a photography student in the Triple Exposure program. Competitions often give students motivation, help direct and focus their photography, acclimate them to presenting and displaying their work, demonstrate the value of public art and photography, and reaffirm what they are continually learning as they grow as artists and documentarians. Recently, thanks to a competition hosted by Al-Hoash Gallery in Jerusalem, students added another element to their art: storytelling. The competition asked each student to write 100 to 150 words about the photographs they submitted, under the theme “I Have Something to Say.” Below are the photographs submitted by Mujahed, age 14, and the narrative he shared.

My name is Mujahed Al Aghbar, and I hope that Palestine will be free, our country like other countries in different parts of the world. In most of my pictures, the message is an expression about Palestine and about the future of Palestinian youth.  The first picture communicates the reality and future of the youth of Palestine, where I see a ray of hope in the movement of Palestinian youth from their unjust reality (ignorance and suffering) to a bright future full of prosperity and development. The second photo exemplifies Palestinians' hope for the establishment of their independent state, for which there could not be enough celebration, their hope for the achievement of a future state, and their view towards a bright tomorrow. The third picture considers the meaning of the Palestinian people under the reality of occupation.  It demonstrates their determination that occupation will pass by raising the Palestinian flag, even if behind bars.  They do not despair from occupation, because they have learned that they are true friends and legitimate in this land.