Eman Mohammed, a Palestinian photojournalist, set the tone Tuesday, Sept. 22, for SVSU’s 2015 Fall Focus lecture series.
Her speech, “Breaking Taboos and Documenting Devastation: A Woman’s Journey,” described her experiences with sexism, motherhood and the devastation of battle as she worked as a photojournalist documenting the Gaza War in 2008 and 2009.
She was the sole female photojournalist in the area and, in addition to her employment with a local news team, she was determined to share the stories of war survivors through photography.
This led her to create her own project, “Broken Souvenirs.”
Photographers often displayed the effects of the Gaza War with lurid images of violence and wreckage, but Mohammed’s project showed the aftermath through solemn shots of broken families with material possessions left behind by their lost relatives. Often spending weeks, even months, with the survivors to accurately understand their stories, Mohammed’s haunting photos depicted the loss of civilian life in Gaza up close and personally.
Audience member and Saginaw County resident Joan Mccoi attended the lecture with a first-hand viewpoint of the war zone, as she had visited the area herself with other members of the Lansing-based Michigan Peace Team.
As a frequent attendee of SVSU’s lecture series, Mccoi was greatly anticipating the Palestinian speaker. She, in a certain sense, related to Mohammed’s work.
“She was from Gaza, which I’ve experienced. I was anxious to hear what she had to say,” Mccoi said. “I (admire) her actions as a woman to be able to get out there and do that in spite of it all. You know, being a mother and the need for taking care of her kids, but also the need for the story to get out there. For people to understand. That’s some of what we’re to do when we come home: spread the message.”
For Mohammed, who says she is still experiencing gender bias in her field, it has been a long, ongoing battle to share the experiences of war survivors.
However, the triumph in her endeavors left a sense of empowerment with her audience.
Although, in her words, her chances were limited because of her gender and her having grown up in a war zone, her stories were told and made an impact on the public eye.
In the closing statement of her lecture, she urged her audience, “if you have to dream, do not dream big. Dream limitless.”
