The Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF) held yet another successful art show. Photographs taken in Palestinian refugee camps across Lebanon, capture raw and untouched images that reveal the splendor of children’s adaptation to an environment most would consider shatteringly harsh and ruthless. Falak Shawwa gave a glimpse as to how these children can illuminate daily life in their own way through their enchanting liveliness and charm.

Falak Shawwa is a photographer with a passion to document the experiences and journeys of different people and the richness of their cultures.

Falak Shawwa is a photographer with a passion to document the experiences and journeys of different people and the richness of their cultures.

Images contrastées d'une rue qui ne cesse de se transformer, témoignages d'histoires et d'amours qui se font et se défont, le concours photo « Your Hamra, My Hamra », lancé en octobre dernier, a donné naissance à un livre éponyme qui réunit 80 visions de Hamra by day, by night, en noir et blanc et en couleurs*. Et autant de flammes déclarées.

A Photography Exhibition by Falak Shawwa, Love Captured...is the raw and untouched journey through the Palestinian refugee camps across Lebanon, revealing the splendor of children's adaptation to an environment most would consider shattered and ruthless. Parts of the proceeds are contributed to the GKCF.

Your Hamra, My Hamra: contemporary visual stories…A stunning visual reflection of Hamra’s bustling streets [all capturing] in some way the vibrancy and vivacity of Hamra and its people. The book credits 41 people with having composed the book’s captions but it singles out five winners – Nour al-Assad, Falak F Shawwa, Dima Karam, Firas Chehabedine and Abbas Ramadan.

On a Beirut road that runs from Hamra Street down to Bliss Street, Falak Shawwa stopped to snap a picture of three chairs – one metal, one wooden and one plastic – positioned in front of a mustard-colored wall. “The chairs represent different generations in Hamra,” she said. “Different ages, different times.”

Palestinian Embroidery Motifs documents more than 200 motifs, giving their names in Arabic and English and identifying the areas of Palestine from which they come. Falak Shawwa’s photographs capture the artistry and vibrant colours of the motifs, and the splendour of festive dresses.