ΓΑΖΑ: ΖΩΝΤΑΣ ΣΕ ΕΡΕΙΠΙΑ

Gaza: Living in Ruins Q. Sakamaki

"This is an aftermath story of Gaza, following the 2014 50-day war between Israel and Hamas. The war claimed the lives of more than 2,150 Palestinians, wounded more than 10,000 and displaced an estimated 300,000 people. On the Israeli side, at least 64 soldiers were killed and six civilians died.

I traveled to Gaza in the aftermath to witness the devastation for myself. I took a series of portraits of people living in the ruins of what used to be their homes. I intentionally shot them at night because my conceptual motif for this story is that these people have experienced the darkness of Gaza’s devastation physically and psychologically. This is something I want to shed light on.

Despite the despair that I felt while I was there, I have a dream. It is that someday, in the fresh morning light, I will be able to photograph the portraits of people in Gaza. Portraits of people who have hope.” ]