Three Months in the West Bank

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

Palestine | Friday, May 24, 2013 | 5 photos

Recently I lived in the West Bank, occupied Palestine. It was here that I realised my passion for photography. I wanted to capture everything that I saw, felt and heard through my little Lumix. I wanted to tell everyone back home that Palestine was not a dangerous war zone filled with suicide bombers.

I didn't spend three months in fear of my life, I spent three months eating good food, meeting good people and learning about lives. Ordinary and extraordinary lives.

My camera allowed me to capture the essence of Palestine - the olive groves and the barbed wire. I couldn't wait to show my pictures to the people back home, I uploaded them to Facebook, Twitter and WordPress as soon as I had taken them.

I shot Israeli soldiers on the roofs of turbulent Hebron. I shot children playing in a school with no water. I shot food, lots of food. I shot a baby on the floor.

Back in England I can't wait for my next 'assignment.' I am an amateur - I have never had any photography training, I have never even used a DSLR. But I have a raw talent and this scholarship would give me the courage to pursue my dream of shooting the world through a lens.