These portraits and interviews were made over a one month period in December 2007 and January 2008. When I took their picture, it was often the first time I had met the subject. So my camera and my Palestinian partner’s voice recorder were a part our getting to know each other.
These portraits and words are an expression of a first connection between the photographer and the subject. These pictures are all in a way self-portraits, because the gaze, words, and demeanor of the subject were all directed towards me and my Palestinian partner. People learn a lot more about themselves by looking at someone’s reaction to them than just by looking in a mirror.
Although by virtue of its subject matter, “Introductions” cannot help being political, its message is, in the words of the Israeli actor, Liron Levo, the message of any art: love and peace. I recognize, like Um Ahmed from Balata Refugee Camp, that love is conditional on mutual understanding.