world photos
July 20, 1999
An article on the work of featured photographer
Osama Silwadi.
The Testimony of Photographs
by Fanny Germain
(Reprinted with permision of the author.)
Since February 6, the Media Resources Center of Ramallah has been hosting Osama Silwadi's photography exhibition on Bedouin daily life, a magnificent artistic work of sociological testimony. Only 25 years old, photographer Osama Silwadi already benefits from rich professional experiences, noticeable in these beautiful and original pictures.
Born near Ramallah, he taught himself photography at the age of sixteen by reading magazines and books and practicing with a camera. While studying media communications, he started working as a free-lance photographer at the age of nineteen for various local newspapers. He even worked for France Presse Agency for three years. Before dedicating himself to photographing the Bedouins, Osama focused on the Intifada, like most of his Palestinian colleagues. The ministry of culture sponsored five of these exhibitions in Washington, Brussels and Ramallah. Unfortunately, the artist could not attend any of the events outside of Palestine and members of the ministry went to present his work without him. Such administrative and political obstacles are woefully ordinary in Palestine, given the lack of freedom of movement under which the Palestinians suffer.
This time, however, Osama Silwadi will personally show his photographs on Bedouin life in Tel Aviv and Rome. The photographer explained that his latest work intends to bring something new to Palestinian society and photography, after so many years spent focusing on political events. On a larger scale, this Bedouin exhibition is the first part of the artist's project to broaden the portrayal of Palestinian everyday life to the social and traditional realms. Osama Silwadi insisted that there is a need for information concerning Palestinian society, whose public identity has been distorted by 50 years of conflict and international focus on the intifada generation. Now, the time has come to provide documentation on this diversified society, not merely for those beyond the borders of Palestine but also for Palestinians themselves. The artist, indeed, deplored the fact that most of the Palestinians do not know their counterparts, the Bedouins, who, although experiencing a very different life, remain an integral part of the Palestinian people.
Providing testimony on the Bedouins may serve as an advocacy tool for the preservation of a community that is suffering dramatic permutations due to Israeli imposed displacement and generational conflict. In a situation reminiscent of the tragic experience of the native Americans, the Bedouin's traditional integrity is in danger. Many of them have been forced to live in caravans as the Israelis destroyed their tents in order to expropriate their territory. Osama Silwadi's photographs show the amazing contrasts operating nowadays in the Bedouin society. Between ancient tradition and "progress," the photographs show American cigarettes lying on an old carpet, and television is shown as an integral part of everyday life lived in a tent " some of them even have satellite dishes.
In spite of these modern changes, the photographer argues that Bedouins are still firmly attached to their customs, which is evident in the pictures. Despite difficult living conditions, they live in harmony with nature and it seems that few of them would give up this way of life. For this reason, Osama Silwadi considers his task to make the public aware and sensitive toward the Bedouin community, a duty and the first step in protecting this segment of the Palestinian society. From this perspective, this project, combining artistic photography, and sociological documentary, is a useful initiative. Should his limited budget allow, until now, Osama has not received any funding, the photographer will continue his work focusing on traditional weddings, Palestinians on holidays and seasonal portrayals of Palestinians in a natural context.
Osama Silwadi is an active photographer involved in different projects and activities. First, his photography book is likely to be published within two weeks and will present Palestinian women - at home, at work, during the Intifada, etc. Further, in order to communicate his passion for photography and help the development of future artists, he teaches in various workshops supervised by places such as al-Mamal, the Popular Arts Center and the summer camps organized last year by Baladna, the cultural center of al-Bireh. This task is worthwhile and meaningful to the extent that photography is not recognized in Palestine as an artistic and estimable activity.
"Here, a photographer is a challenger," pointed out Osama Silwadi referring to the problems he usually faces in the country. "In Palestine," he followed, "newspaper editors tend to depreciate photographers since they consider journalism essentially a written task." This disdain for photography also comes from the population, who is not familiar yet to this type of art. As an example, the artist was confronted by several obstacles when setting up a photo-advertising project. Using professional female models was seen by many people as a "dirty" job, a shame. Notwithstanding this criticism, "as the Chinese say," insisted Osama, "one picture is more useful than one thousand words."