She dreamed of photographing joy, but found herself documenting ruin
Between old photos she kept from photo sessions of happy occasions, and new photos she takes of building rubble and traces of destruction in her city, Maha Al-Sersak (17 years old) is living through a harsh transformation imposed by the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which changed the features of the place and the dreams of its residents, and pushed the Palestinian girl to discover her passion for photojournalism and seek to pursue it professionally.
Photo: Doaa AlbazBefore the war, Maha dreamed of becoming a wedding photographer, documenting happy moments and keeping her memories in photos that brought families and friends together. She still keeps old photos from photo sessions of joyful occasions, but today she finds herself facing a completely different scene; using her mobile phone to photograph the destruction and devastation that has befallen the city's neighborhoods, in an attempt to document the reality of Palestinians and convey their stories to the world.
The photo taken by Maha al-Sarsak with her mobile phone shows a Palestinian couple celebrating in preparation for the arrival of their first child, while between the two photos is a picture of a destroyed house in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, caused by the Israeli war on the Strip.
Maha's story reflects part of the transformations that the war has imposed on the lives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where vast residential neighborhoods were destroyed, infrastructure and vital facilities were damaged, and many families were forced to leave their homes to live in tents and shelters lacking many necessities of life. Amid continued displacement, scarcity of basic needs, and difficulty accessing services, residents struggle to secure their daily needs, while the details of ordinary life—from shelter and food to continuing education—have become challenges weighing heavily on families.
Maha lives with her 11-member family in a displacement tent near Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, amid difficult living conditions imposed by displacement and the repercussions of the war. Despite the challenges she faces, she is trying to continue her high school education while learning the basics of photojournalism through training courses, using her mobile phone since she does not own a private camera.
Maha's contact with journalists during the war gave her the opportunity to get to know the nature of journalistic work, and to understand the role of the image in conveying events and documenting people's suffering. Over time, photography was no longer, for her, merely a hobby or an old dream, but became a means of expressing a reality she lives daily, and a path she hopes will lead her to a profession through which she can tell the stories of Palestinians and carry their voices to the world.
As the Palestinian girl continues her journey of learning and training, she clings to her dream of enrolling in university and studying journalism, and hopes to own a private camera that would help her develop her skills and document the details of life in Gaza more broadly and professionally.
From wedding photos she once dreamed of making her profession, to scenes of destruction she documents today, Maha is trying to carve out a path for herself in the world of journalism, making the photograph a means of preserving memory and conveying people's stories and suffering, hoping that a day will come when the camera returns to documenting joy instead of devastation.
