"From These Streets" with Mohammad Al-Azza, Photo-journalist from Lajee Center

In Co-Sponsorship with the DC Palestinian Film & Arts Festival

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

12:30 – 2:00 p.m. EST

The Jerusalem Fund

What does it mean to be a photographer rooted in community, especially when that community is a Palestinian refugee camp? Mohammad Al-Azza, who teaches youth about photography and documentary production in the Lajee Center where he began his own work as a photographer, discusses the challenges journalists face in the midst of demonstrations and clashes. He presents photographs from three different exhibits he produced in Aida Camp, one of which is his arrest and injury to the face. His work on exhibit in, “From These Streets”, highlights the challenges facing the Palestinian refugee community, specifically in Bethlehem’s Aida camp, due to poverty and intense military presence. His work also celebrates the vitality of this community.

Mohammad Al-Azza is a refugee from the village of Beit Jibreen who was born and lives in Aida Refugee Camp. He is a documentarian and photographer, and he directs the Arts & Media Unit of Lajee Center in Aida Refugee Camp, Palestine. In this capacity, he helps youth to produce photography and videoprojects. His first documentary, Ali Wall, won the Global Jury Prize of the It Is Apartheid Film Contest (2010), and his documentaryEveryday Nakba (2011) has been screened in numerous festivals and mobilized an international movement to improve access to clean water in Aida Refugee Camp and other Palestinian communities. His award-winning photography on media representation, refugee rights, and popular protest has exhibited in Palestine, France, and the United States, among other places.