Humans of Palestine exhibition at Otley Courthouse shows 'humanity' through photography

It is the beauty of daily life which is explored in a set of pictures available to see in Yorkshire, as humanity itself is intended as the central focus of a photographic showcase.

Najib Joe Hakim, a Palestinian-American photographer featured, says: “Our exhibition is an attempt to put a human face and a human experience to the Palestinians throughout the world, not just in Palestine but in the diaspora as well.”

Humans of Palestine at Otley Courthouse in Leeds features more than 20 such images.

The free event has already started but will continue at the arts venue - formerly a 19th century magistrates court - until Monday, November 28.

The Network of Photographers for Palestine, a charity from Scotland, and Leeds-based East Street Arts have organised the display, which coincides with the Leeds Palestinian Film Festival taking place this month and into December.

Shazia Bibi, the exhibition’s lead producer for East St Arts, says that “humanity” is the overall theme, with images offering a “balance between what we see in the mainstream media compared to what these photographers have taken”.

The photographs show Palestians dancing and singing, cooking, bathing, sleeping, working and much more besides.

“I think there is not much difference between us and them,” says Shazia.

Photographers featured in the exhibition include Ursula Mindermann, Sanad Letefa, Ramez Haboub, Nidal Alwahidi, Najib Joe Hakim, Mohammed Asad, Mohammed Alhajjar, Haitham Khatib, Ahmad Al-Bazz and Abed Zagout.

The Network itself comprises a collective which seeks to provide Palestinian photographers with a world-wide audience and challenge what they describe as a mainstream media bias.

It also facilitates visits of Palestinian photographers overseas. For example, in 2017, it hosted the renowned photojournalist Hamde Abu Rahme on a tour of Scotland.

If British photographers want to visit Palestine, members can provide travel advice and contacts who they may be interested to meet.

Shazia’s colleague Hannah Platt, creative producer, has also put together a zine about the exhibition as a lasting artefact.

Leeds Palestian Film Festival, meanwhile, hosts a mixture of documentaries, feature films and rarely-seen works.

In an interview to promote the exhibition, Najib said: “Human photography offers us a mirror to see ourselves through the eyes of other people and hopefully to gain some insight into us as individuals and also who we are as a species. Sometimes we lose sight of that. We’re so, perhaps, narcissistic in some ways.

“That’s why we make films about ourselves, pictures about ourselves, tell stories about ourselves. And the whole thing is to do with: ‘Who are we?’ With photography, that’s my way of exploring that question.”

For more information about the Humans of Palestine exhibition, visit https://otleycourthouse.org.uk/