Contrast Concrete

Contrast Concrete is an ongoing series of analog portraits made in Jericho, Bethlehem, Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem — an act of documenting the soul and the body in relation to place, searching for spontaneity in the unknown. I work entirely on 35mm film a

Contrast Concrete is an ongoing series of analog portraits made in

Jericho, Bethlehem, Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem. The pictures were

captured in environments across Palestine, as an act of documenting

the soul and the body in relation to the place and its surroundings,

searching for spontaneity in the unknown. I see patterns and movement

in compositions and orders where they meet in the lens of my camera.

I work entirely on 35mm film. I shoot it, develop it, and scan it

myself. The process is the vision. I love the freedom of analog and

the act of letting go — releasing the shutter and knowing it is so

beautiful, then the wait to see the results after developing the film

strip. It is a magical experience where science, materials, chemicals

and timing all have to work in harmony. Each is as important as the

next, and each has its respect. The work is handmade from the shutter

to the scan.

The women in these pictures are my friends and my role models, and

each of them is pushing a boundary in her own field. Ruba AlFarawna is

a photographer, visual artist and researcher who reexamines history

through photography. Noel Kharman is a singer from Haifa whose work

explores how she navigates structural regional challenges while

remaining deeply tied to her homeland as a creative anchor. Miso Misan

Samara is a dancer, choreographer and actor who confronts and explores

the existence of oneself by crisscrossing the lines of colonial

occupation and society to tell stories of a constant battle of

resistance and resilience, researching images of liberation and

building a world of creativity in motion. Nur Garabli is a Palestinian

choreographer, dancer, artivist, curator and artistic director based

in Yaffa, whose work is grounded in somatic research and

community-rooted practice; she focuses on fostering body knowledge and

embodied expression within Palestinian society, particularly among

women and gender-marginalized individuals.

Together, in front of my lens, they become a greater force. Each one

is already pushing against something — a history, a border, a silence.

Standing them inside the raw material of the land they belong to —

concrete, stone, dry brush, half-built walls, empty streets — makes

that force visible. Bodies that climb, hang, fall, sit, stand still

and look back at the camera. The architecture around them is often

half-built, in progress or half-abandoned; the women inside it hold

their ground.

The series is a document of friendship and of sisterhood, and an act

of honor toward the women who are quietly remaking what is possible

in this place.

Contrast Concrete is ongoing. I plan to continue the work across

further locations in Palestine, toward a first exhibition and a

photobook. The grant would support film, processing, scanning,

and travel.