Human history

In 1956, a Swedish photographer named Per-Olow Anderson travelled to Gaza, which was then under Egyptian administration. He photographed the people he met, determined to tell the stories of Palestinian refugees. They had gone largely ignored by the world since their forced displacement during the Nakba of 1948, the creation of the State of Israel.

After much difficulty, Anderson managed to find a publishing house in the US that would agree to publish the photographs in a beautiful book, prefaced with these words: "I ask you simply to look at them. They will look back at you; and I believe that as you look into their eyes, you will, as I did, see yourself: They are human too..."

Once the book was published, the Zionist lobby in the US kicked into gear, buying up as many copies of the book as possible and destroying them. It is unknown how many copies survived, but it disappeared into obscurity.

By chance, another Swedish photographer, Mia Gröndahl, was shown a copy of the book by a friend who knew she had an interest in Gaza. She was mesmerised. The photographs gave an incredible insight into the lives of Palestinians in Gaza, both refugees and original inhabitants. Not just photographs of suffering, many photographs, both in colour and black and white, showed vibrancy and vitality.

Mia decided to embark on a project of her own, travelling to Gaza in 2000 and trying to track down the people shown in the photographs so that she could photograph them again. She found several of the people who were still alive, as well as a number of surviving relatives of those who had since died. The resulting photographs are striking.

An event was held in Al Mathaf hotel this evening, where Mia presented a slideshow of her photographs. The presentation quickly became interactive, as people in the audience recognised the subjects of the photographs and shared stories about them. There was an audible buzz in the room, as people spoke quietly to each other trying to identify locations and people.

Anderson's son travelled to Gaza for the first time to speak at the event. He became very emotional as he spoke of the suffering he had witnessed in the previous few days, particularly of children.

Mia plans to organised a reprint of the original book so that it can finally reach people in the way Anderson originally intended. I hope she will succeed. It is an important document of the human history of Palestine.