Children of Palestine | Beyond Numbers
Staged by Gulf Photo Plus and The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), the show “Children of Palestine | Beyond Numbers” brings together pictures taken by a variety of talented photographers, as well as by the children themselves.
Every year the PCRF organizes Summer Camps for Palestinian refugees across the West Bank, providing social and cultural activities for underprivileged children living in refugee camps, as well as helping disabled and physically challenged children to integrate with the community.
This year, the children were given the chance to unearth their creativity through a photography course. Asked to capture their day-to-day lives, able-bodied children partnered with the physically challenged to create their photo stories. Professional photographers also spent time with the children, working together and giving them tips for creating great images. The resulting photographs are a humbling insight into their simple & harsh life in Palestine and how they manage to keep their heartwarming smiles, pride & determination.
Hala Salhi, Co-director Gulf Photo Plus, explains: “Palestinian children live under extreme conditions of an occupation and through the horrors of many wars, yet they are very much like other children - they enjoy playing, being creative and they love taking pictures. This summer, they had a chance to escape, to have fun and tell their stories with cameras. By hosting this event in support of the PCRF, we hope to raise awareness of the remarkable work that they do for children in Palestine and across the region, and highlight the many ways in which individuals can support the PCRF to equip the kids with a better future.”
In addition to the portraits and stories from the children, the exhibition showcases work by Eloise Bollack a photographer living in Gaza, who took photos throughout the 50-day war this summer.
“We’re thrilled to work with Gulf Photo Plus to show these wonderful images to the public,” said Steve Sosebee, CEO of PCRF. “Palestinian children live through times of peace and times of war. These images reflect their extraordinary resilience, creativity and the strength of the human spirit. We hope to help even more children in our 2015 Summer Camps.”
The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), a non-political, non-profit organization works hard to provide sick and injured Arab children in the Middle East with specialized medical care by arranging cost-free treatment for them, at home and abroad.
For more information on how to support the PCRF, please visit the website www.pcrf.net
The exhibition will take place in the Gulf Photo Plus gallery space, unit D36, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, opening Oct 20 and running through to Oct 30, 2014.