Home Away from Home / A Home Away from Home, 2017

Home Away from Home / A Home Away from Home, 2017

"The title of this section, as well as the entire project, comes from an interview with my cousin Khadra. It was her reply to my question: do you feel at home in America? 'My original home is Palestine. But this is a home away from home. Yes, like home.' As had been the custom in Palestine, it was assumed that I would stay at my cousins’ homes while visiting the United States. Renting an apartment was not an option. My project there was thus a total immersion: first at Ahmed’s place in Florida, then at the home of Sobhi (and Khadra), the eldest in the family, in California; and finally, with Samir and Kamal, also in California. After a short period of familiarization (because, after all, we hardly know each other), I started to photograph each of them in their own worlds."