am I another you and you another I?

“this isn’t my path to my freedom’s land”

this isn’t my path to my body and I won’t be “I” twice

since my yesterday’s taken my tomorrow’s place

and I have split into two women

so I am not of the east and I am not of the west,

nor am I an olive tree shading two verses in the Quran

then, let’s go.

let’s go as we are, a free woman and an old friend

let’s go on two separate paths

let’s go together, and let’s be kind . . .

 

mahmoud darwish

 

 

born 1977 in germany I made my first contact to the middle east in 1981 when my family moved to Tripolis, Libya, for a year, following my father's work. smells, tastes and sounds of the orient were carved deep into my memory and dogged me ever since.

 

another relic of that time, my father's canon a1, turned out to be a close companion not only for many trips to the middle east - until I moved to the region a second time in 2010, for an undefinite period and with a digital partner this time.

 

as much as I feel confident behind my camera, being in front of other people's lenses leaves me with a feeling of deep insecurity. knowing about both - the security barrier in the form of a camera body and its lense as well as the feeling of intimidation provoked by it - has shapped my way of working. unselfconsciousness, curiosity and time became the substructure of both my journalistic and photojournalistic work. not my camera judges about beauty or ugliness. it's all in the eye of the beholder.