Asmaa Seba is a professional Belgian photographer who spent three months in 2012 in the Gaza strip as part of an Art-Photo project which gave the opportunity to 6 children aged from 6 to 11 living in the refugee camps to express themselves through photography.In 2008, the children witnessed massacres during the Israeli operation "Cast Lead", which killed 1450 people, with more than 450 children among them. They were traumatized by seeing some of their family members wounded or killed before their own eyes, and were living in precarious conditions in a very oppressive environment.
In this context, each of the 6 children received a camera and photography workshops. Every week, they had to express a subject through the lens. This method led to the development of great shots, and real life stories of their daily life in two refugees camps: Khan Yunus in the south of the strip, and Jabaliya in the north (close to border with Israel).
At the end of the workshop, twenty-four photographs were selected as part of an urban exhibition in the center of Gaza. More than 400 people came from all over the Gaza strip to meet the children, who were very proud and happy to show their work. They could speak to the visitors, and had interviews with TV journalists, newspapers and magazines from Palestine, Belgium, Turkey, Spain and the UK. The exhibition traveled to North Africa, Malaysia, Turkey, Jordan, the UK, and Ireland, raising awareness on the dramatic situation the children live in because of the siege on Gaza, and the ongoing colonization in Palestine. It showcased a harsh reality filmed trough their eyes – a reality never covered by the mainstream media, especially in the West.
Each picture is a testimony on what it is like for a child to live in the biggest open air prison. True stories are behind the pictures that these amazing, brave children took. The pictures also show their hopes and dreams, and that is what they want to share with the outside world.
"12 years after conducting the project with the children, we are currently witnessing a disastrous situation in Gaza. Since October 7, Israel has destroyed all vital infrastructure in Gaza, including hospitals and schools. More than 40.000 Palestinians have been killed, and among them at least 16000 are children. The children who survive grow up under the shadow of recurrent violence, and the deadly effect of diseases and malnutrition as ongoing bombings cut them off from safe water, food and medicine.As Artists, we must shed light on what is happening in Occupied Palestine, and use our voices to raise awareness among the public to stop the massacres."
