22. Khalas
Bethlehem, West Bank - Palestine
2016
Giclée print on Hahnemühle photo rag paper
30 x 42 cm
$300
5/5 edition (+ AP)
The shadow of a teen who regularly sell phone and sim cards to those waiting in the checkpoint line. He enjoys a cigarette after a particularly hectic morning at the checkpoint.
On Friday morning, I was at the checkpoint monitoring and assisting any elderly Palestinians who had trouble with Israelis regarding permits needed to attend Friday prayers in the al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. A Palestinian man around 50 years old walked up the checkpoint ramp and started talking to me. He told me his name was Hamed and asked what I was doing. After explaining the role in the West Bank, he mentioned he was no longer allowed to work in Israel or Jerusalem and must try and make a living as a taxi driver in Bethlehem. He informed me he had lost his job working in construction in Israel because his boss had owed him 20,000 NIS (approx. $7300AUD) and refused to pay. Hamed's boss rang the Israeli police and civil administration, who cancelled his work permit and removed future work privileges in Israel. All to avoid having to pay his employee.