A Place of Our Own

For six years (2014–2020) Tel Aviv-based photographer and artist Iris Hassid followed the day to day lives 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 them while building trust, documenting 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, in Tel Aviv, Kfar Kanna, and Nazareth.
“It was refreshing to hear Arabic being spoken in my neighborhood by a new generation of young and self-confident women, so different from how they are portrayed in the media.” The presence of these young women in Ramat Aviv fascinated Iris Hassid, who lives right around the corner from Tel Aviv University, so it made sense to engage.
“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. I often think about their futures and about the future of this country.”