A Place of Our Own by Iris Hassid

For six years (2014-2020) Tel Aviv-based photographer and artist Iris Hassid followed the day-to-day life of four young Palestinian women, citizens of Israel, who are part of a recent surge of the young generation of Arab female students attending Tel Aviv University.

Engaging in spontaneous, pleasurable, and often thought-provoking conversations, Iris Hassid photographed Samar (a fresh graduate from film school) from Nazareth, her cousin Saja (studying psychology) also from Nazareth, Majdoleen (studying architecture) from Kafr Kanna, and Aya (studying social work and gender studies), from Kafr Qara. One can see bits of these conversations in the book.

The outcome of the project is as refreshing, remarkable, and hopeful as it is unclear. “This long and intimate collaboration made me question the place I live in, the historical narrative, the identity and symbols we inherited on both sides. It has revealed a complex and new reality, both for the girls as for Israel’s future.”