“Palestine and Home” Hassan Al Rashid’s Creative Rationale:
A
s a risk-taker, I chose to make a photo essay, because firstly, I have never created or planned for
a photo essay, and secondly, I thought that using pictures and trying to make people actually pay attention. Photos seem to be the most effective way to captivate my audience and share my views. The focus of this photo essay is generally Palestine, but firmly Gaza. This is really important to me, because everyone in Palestine is suffering, dying and suffering the consequences. I hope others who don’t see it the same way can change their perspective. I think my work shows a clear POV of what is happening in our world and especially our country Palestine, because I used some methods that actually show trapness, freedom, and war. Even though I’m not physically protesting somewhere, my creation is a way for me to remember, convey, indicate exactly what is happening everyday, and never forget about this mess. My creation is an individual voice part of a collective one and people have the ability to change their minds and help reconstruct Palestine. I hope that they are able to understand, and never forget about this situation, so I’m raising awareness, generally trying to spread the word to the world. I know that protests can be risky, the greatest and most dangerous risk is COVID, because of the pandemic it is really dangerous to protest and gather with people you have no idea who they are. The second risk would also be violence. There have been a lot of incidents reported, the use of guns, knives, other objects thrown at police and military. Because of people's decisions, the police and the military have to do something; the people will suffer because of their decisions. The cops now deal with protesters with water cannons, tasers, gas canisters, baton rounds, or other weapons. Also another reason for not taking kids/teens to protest, is because of the threats and abusive language. When I think about voicing or using my agency for a social issue, the risk is COVID, because I haven’t been vaccinated yet, and this pandemic is a huge deal. I cannot socialize with anyone. For me, civic responsibility means the liability to be called upon to respond to an action or law for an injury caused by a crime. I think the most effective ways to use my voice and agency include creating huge posters that are attractive to the eye. During this unit, I have seen, read, and researched various ways people protested, like individual, collective, and social voices. When different points of view are in conflict over an issue, this can cause the people in the conflict to be stuck in the first position, they lack the objectivity of shifting to third to get the bigger picture. In my own words, the purpose of protests is to make people accept what’s happening, and to send a message to the world.
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