Occupied Pleasures a Photo Book by Tanya Habjouqa

Occupied Pleasures is a testimony to Palestinian resilience as they pursue simple pleasures in the face of an endless occupation. Tanya Habjouqa is raising funds for the project. To help: www.kickstarter.com/projects/... This project will only be funded if at least $21,150 is pledged by Wed, Feb 25 2015 2:13 PM EST.
Occupied Pleasures explores how people live through the daily absurdities in the face of an endless occupation. Such ability to find pleasure highlights humanity, and such pleasures are also a form of creative resistance.
Occupied Pleasures has been widely exhibited and published, winning a World Press Photo award in 2014. We want to take Occupied Pleasures to another level. To create a beautiful hard cover book infused with new photographs and the powerful poetry of Najwan Darwish.
By backing this book you can be part of sharing this small offering of peace and joy in a part of the world overwhelmed with stories of conflict and violence.
The hardcover book will measure 20 x 30 cm. and contain, an introduction, 60 to 70 color photographs, mixed with original poetry and proverbs.
Renowned Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish will enrich Occupied Pleasures with his original poems, some inspired by the photographs.
Nothing More to Lose by Najwan Darwish
Lay your head on my chest: I’m listening to the dirt
I’m listening to the grass
As it splits through my skin….
We lost our heads in love
And we have nothing more to lose
Dr. Laleh Kahili, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of London will add her eloquent voice in an introductory essay reflecting on the context of the images. From her introduction:
"We also need imagery that captures the poetry of everyday life, and not only the prose of strife. We need the fleeting wash of pleasure to color our memories in the interstices of devastation ruination and grief. We need to remember the laughter too, the exhilaration of evanescent triumphs, fugitive joys. We need to remember people embodied in their flesh and not just reflected through the lens of news, or prejudice, or stereotype."
Occupied Pleasures is a testament to hope, dignity and laughter, celebrating life in the face of the modern world's longest occupation.
A portion of proceeds from the sale of the book will go to Farashe Yoga Center farasheyoga.org/ . Farashe Yoga’s network of teachers are reaching communities throughout the West Bank, teaching a wide range of women and men, including children, high school students, elderly, cancer survivors, diabetes patients, pregnant women, and school teachers, in villages and refugee camps.
Born in Jordan in 1975, Tanya Habjouqa was educated in the United States and received her masters in Global Media and Middle East Politics from the University of London SOAS.
Habjouqa’s photographs focus on gender, social, and human rights issues in the Middle East. She approaches her subjects with sensitivity but also with an eye for the absurd. In 2014 she won a World Press Award for her series Occupied Pleasures in which she documents many of the ludicrous moments of everyday life that the 47-year occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem has created.
She is a founding member of Rawiya, a collective of female photographers from across the Middle East. Habjouqa has recently shown her work at important venues including the New Museum, New York, New York, the Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris, France, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark. Her series "Women of Gaza" is in the permanent collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Art.
Habjouqa mentors emerging photographers from the Greater Middle East and guest lectures at universities world wide. A recipient of the Magnum Foundation 2013 Emergency Fund and her journalistic work has taken her to the front lines in in Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, and Gaza. She was also a finalist for the 2014 FotoEvidence Book Award.
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FotoEvidence is a publishing house for documentary photographers whose work focuses on social justice and human rights. FotoEvidence publishes hard copy and digital photo books.
Each year an international jury selects one photographer to receive the FotoEvidence Book Award for a project that demonstrates courage and commitment in the pursuit of social justice. The work is published as a book.
Svetlana Bachevanova
Publisher FotoEvidence