Say Cheese!

By Ibrahim Isam

I was documenting a children’s film screening in Gaza, trying, as I often do, to steal a moment before a child realizes he/she is being seen. Then, from just behind me, came a shy, almost inaudible voice: “Can you take a picture of us… together?”

I turned and found two little girls watching the shutter of my camera, as if they had discovered something of themselves there before I had.

For a moment, I no longer knew who was photographing whom; I was following them with my eyes, while they were searching for their own presence in mine.

Perhaps, in the end, all we ask of one another is this: I see you. And perhaps that is how we remain.

I took the photograph, and was left with a question: Do we make photographs, or do they find us when we are finally ready to see?

  • CrossFireArabia

    CrossFireArabia

    Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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    From Summer Madness (Janoon Saif)

    I copied this beautiful message from someone. Humanity is not about religion, color, country, or language. Humanity is about feeling another person’s pain as your own. It is about helping someone even when you get nothing in return. In a world where people are busy proving who is right, humanity is choosing to be kind instead of cruel, silent instead of hateful, and helpful instead of selfish. We all are fighting battles that others cannot see, so a little respect, a little patience, and a little compassion can save someone’s heart. If we cannot change the whole world, at least we can change the world for one person. Real humanity starts when we stop judging and start understanding.

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