DUBAI: Palestinian photographer Belal Khaled has spent years documenting life under occupation, but his latest series, “Hands Tell Stories,” marks a profound shift in how he bears witness to loss, trauma and survival.
The body of work was shown at Ishara Art Foundation in Dubai last month as part of Prix Pictet “Storm” — an edition of the international photography prize that focuses on the theme of climate, social and humanitarian crises.
Rather than faces, Khaled, who was born in Khan Younis, Gaza, chose hands as his primary subject — a decision shaped by both observation and personal injury.
Belal Khaled has spent years documenting life under occupation. (Supplied)
“What pushed me to focus on hands is that the hand is the foundation of everything in a human being,” he told Arab News. “I witnessed the disability of dozens of children and women who lost their hands during the (Israel’s war on Gaza), and how their lives completely changed.”
While covering the war, Khaled was also injured. “Stopping photography for several days (because of my injury) made me feel how frightening it is when the hand stops moving,” he said.
Through hands, he found a universal language of grief and connection. “You don’t need to see someone’s face to understand their suffering,” he said. “It is enough to look at what the hand is doing, you realize that this person is not suffering alone.”
An image from Belal Khaled's 'Hands Tell Stories' series. (Supplied)
He took a series of images across the Gaza Strip, though most were captured in the south. Khaled, who is based in Doha, said this was due to the forced evacuation of civilians from northern Gaza, which meant nearly 80 percent of the population crowded into “very small areas.”
Photographing amid shock and devastation required careful ethical judgment, the photographer said. “We are children of this environment, and we know how to deal with people, especially during moments of shock and trauma. I always made sure to maintain an ethical distance and not to invade their privacy.” But he emphasized the importance of documentation: “If the image disappears, the perpetrator will go further and rights will vanish.”
Every photograph in “Hands Tell Stories” carries emotional weight, but one remains especially heavy. Khaled highlighted an image of Abdullah Al-Ghaf holding the foot of his child, Firas, recounting how the father returned home with biscuits only to discover that his wife and son had been killed.
“When the man arrived at the hospital, he sat next to the shroud, placed the biscuits inside his son’s shroud, and said to him, ‘There was no time for you to eat them, take them with you to heaven.’”
For Khaled, the series is a call to empathy rather than simple observation.
“All I want from those who see these images is to pause for a moment and think about the names and stories behind them,” he said.
The series has been a turning point in Khaled’s approach to his work. “After covering the genocide in Gaza, my visual language changed completely,” he said. “If you look back at my page, you will find it full of color, art and images that carried hope. But after this genocide began, priority shifted to the stories of those who are suffering and those who have lost everything.”
Photography began for Khaled as an act of discovery rather than intention. “I was like someone blind who had just gained sight,” he said, describing his earliest experiences behind the camera.
With time, that fascination hardened into responsibility, shaped by years of witnessing violence and loss. “I realized photography was not a hobby but a mission, a very serious mission and a heavy responsibility that can cost you your life,” he said.
That sense of duty continues to define both his visual language and the subjects he chooses to document. For Khaled, photography is inseparable from advocacy and survival. “I try to document the suffering of the oppressed wherever they are in the world,” he said. “I believe that I can be one of the reasons for lives changing for the better and for ending suffering.”
