Shadows Of Alleys: At The Beginning We Were Happy

About the bookletThis booklet is one of a serie of 3 booklets enclosing a collection of 180 photos, captured by young Palestinian girls and boys in Burj Chemali Camp, South Lebanon. Through using the ‘Pinhole Camera’ technique, these girls and boys captured some challenging sides of the lives of Palestinian youth through aspects of discrimination, violence and gender-based violence affecting their communities. Throughout these photos, the 3 booklets tell 3 personal stories narrated by the participants that implicate deep personal sufferings caused by community-imposed norms, traditions and social exclusion. Aspects of marginalization, affliction, and constraints inside the Palestinian camps are reflected in the stories, mirroring what Palestinian youth have captured through their pinhole cameras and through their perception of social challenges in their society.
The stories in this booklet are fictional narratives developed by participants and the names mentioned in the stories do not reflect any real life person.
The story of Rania’s husband...expose one of the often overlooked types of gender-based violence that affects men and boys. Society often casts work and income generatrion as the sole responsibility of the man and assumes that a man’s e role as breadwinner is a “natural” one. This story highlights a different facet of gender-based violence which harms men and boys in societies where men are often forced to endure psychological and emotional pressures and economic difficulties in order to provide for the family’s basic needs and livelihood.