At a photography exhibition at the Sawy Culture Wheel, a photojournalist's lens captures the enduring vitality of Gaza. Ahmed Hayman, talented with his camera and utterly in love with Gaza, shoots the bullet-proof colors of a war-struck territory. Gaza…Makan fel Qalb (Gaza: A special place in the heart) is a photojournalist's revelation of a love affair with a strip of land where energy, color, and life persist in spite of occupation and the seemingly inescapable wrath of war. “Upon hearing of Gaza, people's minds automatically jump to the funerals, the martyrs, and the utter loss of life,” says Hayman. “But what I witnessed in Gaza was a whole new side of Palestine, and that's what my exhibition conveys.” Hayman observed the territory from sunrise till sunset, its liveliness undeniable and its vigor surprising. “I saw so much color everywhere I turned,” says the photographer. Through his exhibition, Ahmed Hayman attempts to illustrate stories of Palestinians who are caught in a war torn country, yet find it in their hearts to smile, run and play. “The picture I am trying to create is of a beautiful Gaza, where people still laugh and lead normal lives,” he says. While the main photos in Hayman's exhibition appear in black and white, color snapshots make their way into the collection. Hayman creates dialogue within the exhibition. “I played around with the concept of contrast, and paired up photographs which show contrasting emotions.” He fell in love with Gaza at first sight in January 2008, when the barrier on the Gaza Strip-Egypt border was temporarily opened after a 22-day offensive on Gaza launched by Israel in an attempt to halt recurrent rocket fire emanating from the besieged Palestinian territory. Fourteen-hundred Palestinians and 13 Israelis lost their lives to the war. And the blockade of the Gaza Strip continued. A couple of years passed by, yet Hayman could not get Gaza off his mind. And once the blockade of the Rafah border crossing connecting Gaza with Hayman's native Egypt was lifted, the young photojournalist took a leap of faith and requested an opportunity to journey to Gaza once again. "A week later, an official permit, with my own name on it was issued, and I was immediately ready to go.” Once Hayman came face to face again with his dreamed-of destination, he went on a shooting-spree. Reveling in the opportunity to spend a full week in Gaza, the photojournalist spent every available minute snapping pictures left and right. “I photographed absolutely everything around me, and people did not even notice that I was there,” he recalls. Hayman refrained from speaking for the entire duration of his Gaza excursion, concentrating all of his efforts on capturing the surrounding sights and listening to the nearby sounds. Gaza's colors and blacks and whites will be on display at the Kelma Hall, at the Sawy Culture Wheel, from 6:30 PM on 29 Thursday until 5:00 PM on 30 July.
