General Entry - Emerging Talent Awards

"Third Generation" is a collective social documentary photo-book project, which shows the lives, opinions, and thoughts of Israeli and Palestinian youth using a very individualistic and personal approach. The protagonist’s stories in the book are told through pictures, interviews, and texts. We, 19 years old ourselves, aspired to build up close relationships to our protagonists in order to reveal perspectives that are as authentic as possible. This sequence is my excerpt of this project. It covers the Palestinian part, and shows insights into two different families, one located in the better parts of Bethlehem and one in the outskirts of Balata Refugee Camp,, the biggest Camp in the Westbank. While the everyday life of the Handal family seems almost "normal" - Friends, TV, school, family meetings, dinners and Justin Biber Posters, the signs of the Israeli occupation has drawn deep cuts into the lifes of Amira, Ahmed and Amani. Their dad, a high politican in the PLO party was taken from his house in a large-scale night raid in June 2011, where he was sentenced to a term of six months Administrative Detention, that ended up being extended for several times. The situation of the refugees and the deep wish of Amira to return to the house of her family which was taken in the 1948 war and is now on the territory of Israel creates a constant atmosphere of longing, pain and also anger. A short photo essay cannot cover what Leen, Reena, Martin, Amira, Amane, Ahmed and all their friends shared with me. They told me about their experiences during the Intifada, their loss of aquaintances, neighbours, sometimes even friends, about the wall, their feeling of imprisonment, and the Israeli repression they experience everyday. I'll never be able to claim presenting something that is complete; but still I hope to share a little bit of what has been shown to me. For seeing the bookproject in it’s whole, you can see this video: https://vimeo.com/79761037