I first came to the West Bank in August 2005 as part of an international voluntary work camp. For almost three weeks I, along with approximately 30 other people from around the world, spent time with the children from New Askar Refugee Camp. While we were there, we painted one of the walls of the camp’s social center. Every day, I took a panoramic photo of the wall in various stages of completion.

When I returned to the United States, I wanted to find some way to thank the people of the refugee camp for having us and for giving us an experience we would remember for the rest of our lives. So I decided to take the photos of the wall, make it into a poster and then sent it, country by country, around the world so that all of the international volunteers would have a chance to sign it. I don’t remember all of the countries it visited but I know it made a few stops in the United States, made its way through several European countries, and even traveled as far as South Korea. After many months (actually close to a year, I think) of coordinating shipments from person to person, it finally ended up back at New Askar Refugee Camp where it was framed and hung on the wall.

Now, almost 5 years later, I finally got a chance to see it the other day, hanging in the social center of New Askar Refugee Camp. I’ve included photos of the poster and the wall as it exists today…

Click on each image for a larger version…

Being a freelance photographer gives me a degree of freedom that might not otherwise be possible. However, that also means that I am often forced to finance my own projects. If you enjoy my work, please consider making a donation.

The Palestinian children below are on their way from school in a small village outside of Hebron. To their right is a dirt road leading up to an Israeli settler outpost. Settler outposts are simply small houses or villages constructed on land that was seized from Palestinians by Israeli settlers. Israeli settlements are much larger villages and towns that, while illegal under international law, are completely sanctioned by the Israeli government. Outposts are illegal even under Israeli law. The Israeli government has shown little willingness to remove them and, even if they do, they are often rebuilt soon thereafter.

Since this road is so close to one of these outposts, these children are often harassed and even attacked by settlers from both the settlement (behind me in the photo above) and the outpost (at the top of the hill to the right). As such, CPT stations its members along this road to accompany the children on their walk home in order to try and prevent, or at least discourage, attacks from settlers.

Being a freelance photographer gives me a degree of freedom that might not otherwise be possible. However, that also means that I am often forced to finance my own projects. If you enjoy my work, please consider making a donation.

If you’ve seen any of my work from the past year, you’ve probably seen my photo from the Obama rally the night before the election in Manassas, VA.

On Monday, 3 November 2008, I drove to Manassas in the hopes of getting some good photos of then-Senator Obama’s last campaign rally. As I stood in the press area for the rally, I debated whether or not to give up the press access in order to get some photos from the crowd. The press area wasn’t really that close to the stage and I love taking photos of people at events like this. But, if I decided to mingle with the general public, it’s not likely that I’d get back into the press area. So I decided against and tried my best to get good photos of people from where I was.

At around 8pm (still about 2-3 hours from Obama’s appearance), I immediately recognized what was likely to be my best shot of the night. A young girl was sitting on someone’s shoulders and, from my perspective, was right in front of the large American flag put up by Obama’s advance team. I immediately took as many shots as I could before the little girl disappeared into the crowd again. That shot is below:

While I was happy with many of the shots I got that night, the shot above turned out to be my favorite. When it came to trying to write a caption for it, I remember thinking how great it would be if I could find out the young girl’s name.

A few months later, I entered it into the FOTOBAMA Photo Contest which was soliciting entries of any photos of the 2008 Presidential campaign and election. The photo was selected as a finalist and, consequently, was on display at the Newseum in downtown Washington for a few months over the summer. Unfortunately, I actually never got the chance to see it on display at the Newseum.

However, about two weeks ago, I got an email from the Project Editor at the Newseum telling me that she had been contacted by the mother of the little girl in the photo. Apparently, the little girl and her aunt had seen the photo at the Newseum and had wanted to find out if they could get a copy of the picture. I emailed back and forth with the little girl’s mother, got a copy of the photo printed and framed, and met up with them this morning.

So, almost a year later, I give you Maya, age 6, from “Election Eve in Manassas”:

Me, Maya, and her little sister Ella: