Suha DSC_9115 Jerusalem

Beautiful portrait! I love the action of the hands. It is more interesting that the usual still portrait. The way she looks at us from under the rim of the scarf is just priceless. And the black and white tones are smooth and delicate; the background perfect, with just a touch of texture...

Awesome work!

Regards,

Audrey

Thank your your comment and input. appreciated.

Meir, I've looked at this a few times, and what catches me is the frustration of not only wearing a head covering at such a young age when kids should be free (I know there is no real "should be"), but she looks impeded by it:  the apparent difficulty of tying it closed, the positioning of it that her sight is somewhat impaired, and the angle of shooting up her nose adds to this discomfort as well.  Still, her eyes engage, and that -- for me -- brings a dialect of contradictions, which makes this so interesting.  

I have watched Suha evolve. We first met several years ago -just a girl- and she had not yet started wearing the hijab and she was friendly. Next period as in this picture she was wearing the hijab and was still friendly. Now she wears a hijab and she has an attitude towards me. She is not friendly. This is what they teach them.

Meir ,In response to your comment to Donna you said ,that is what they teach them .

I am stranger to you and her ,though I am Arab as you describe your models ,but I am non aligned observer ,and it happened that I hear the news ,though from year to year,but as far as I know and as far as I read and watch is that the Israelis and Palestinian are enemies ,and there are some huge numbers of third parties that have failed to make a peace between them.

I think it is reasonable for both parties to teach their kids to get an attitude from each other ,sounds reasonable to me Meir.

Saad, one of the best people I had the pleasure to know is Palestinian.  People are people.  People are also influenced by dogma.   But, I think  there are plenty of attitudes we have for other "categories" of people such as men to women and reverse.   Everyone has a story...What about Armenian to Turk? We need tolerance.   I'm eager to read Meir's response since he obviously has many Arab people in the Old City of Jerusalem who like him -- as they pose for photographs.  I think Arabs and Jews are cousins -- in many ways very similar  Surely an orthodox Jewish girl -- also covered up -- could have developed attitude to an unrelated male who is not in the "fold."  Should she be taught to have an attitude?

I don't understand your last sentence:  "I think it is reasonable for both parties to teach their kids to get an attitude from each other ,sounds reasonable to me Meir."

I don't want to misunderstand you.  Do you mean it is okay to teach fear or hatred?  Hope it is okay to interject, as you mentioned me in your comment.  

Donna misunderstands your use of the word "reasonable". By "reasonable" you mean "logical" or "understandable" that attitudes are taught. Donna understands your "reasonabe" to mean it is "okay" to teach attitudes. A language barrier between you I believe.

You really are a great portraitist! Ciao, Maurizio.

Grazie per il commento e complimenti

Donna S .

To understand me well ,you have to know that I am Iraqi ,a country that was occupied by the US army ,and I am here making friends from USA,a further understanding comes from the fact that I am commenting to Meir who happened to be an Israeli ,a country that is defined in the Arab countries as the first enemy to them.And as this have been said ,I guess me,you ,and Meir we teach our children and kids to stand away from any strangers in the streets even if he or she was from the same race ,group,or nationality ,How about two parties declared frankly to be enemies to each other for decades ? and as Meir said I found it very logical and reasonable to teach the kids to stay away from the other party ,because if Meir is harmless peaceful man ,the others are not Meir ,and vise versa in the other party.

This is so different from the case of Meir and me ,me and you ,and you and your friends.

Tolerance to others ,is all what I am living for and try to convey in my images ,again ,that is different from instructions given to our kids ,especially in times of war ,even if it was a cold one .

You see ,Meir have used his personal knowledge about me over the past five years and cut it short ,by one word ,Logical.

Stay well and fine.

Saad, yes, Meir is a very smart and logical man who understood that a misunderstanding hinged on one word meant to mean logical.  I'm not only American, I'm Jewish and spent quite some time living in Jerusalem where I was very good friends with a Palestinian man about my age.  In English we have a saying about someone who is giving that goes like "He would give you shirt off his back," meaning he is a very giving person.  One day I was walking with this Palestinian friend of mine down a popular pedestrian shopping area (Meir it was Ben Yehuda Street), and it was cold out.  My friend noticed I was cold, did not even hesitate; he too the sweater off his body (he still had a short sleeved shirt on), a sweater his mother had made for him and gave it me to wear and to keep.  He was one of the nicest, most wonderful people I ever knew for so many reasons, but politically, we should have been enemies.  He told me he used to discuss me to his friends, that he has an American Jewish female friend, and we became very good friends.  

I think there are probably many stories out there about people being friends with groups that don't get along.  We do teach our children to beware of strangers, but in Jewish law, we are commanded to welcome the stranger.  I think the same is true in Muslim laws -- am I right?  I think this is one of the most wonderful things about Judaism.  I learned that the commandment to not bear false witness even stems from this -- that a stranger is much more likely to be blamed than someone who is well-known

What I learned is that we are both in favor of tolerance and peace.  I am sorry for the troubles your country underwent.  Nice to "meet" you under this pic.

Shalom, Donna

A story: Once in America I called a company to move me from one apartment to another.  When the owner arrived to give me a cost estimate and I opened the door I knew that this man is Arab and at the same time from the kipa on my head he knew that I am a Jew. I asked him "do we have a problem" and he replied, "no, we do not have a problem".

A few days later when the packing was finished, Sean -that is his name- told me a story. When he was a boy his father farmed land in Lebanon which was owned by a Jew and this Jewish man was very kind to them and that is why he and I "do not have a problem".

'.....Meir is harmless peaceful man ,the others are not Meir." That is not correct. Israel gets such bad press. I am the average. You know, if I become a patient in a hospital my doctor might be an Arab. The head of the department might be Arab. There are Arab nurses and lab technicians, (parliment members too). One in every five Israelis are Arabs. You and your children would be safe here -guaranteed.  :-) Maybe that relates somehow to this photo?

No ,it is quite correct in my own previous context .

this is why ,we know such person like you is harmless and peaceful,but we do not know the others.

Please understand it within the context.

End .

una serie speciale,con un certo spessore,forse all'interno c'è molta poesia !

saluti paul

Great portrait!