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Sunday, May 23, 2010

This Week in Palestine Artist of the Month Photographer Ahed Izhiman

http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=3115&ed=182&edid=182
Artist of the Month

Ahed Izhiman

Ahed Izhiman was born to a Jerusalemite family on 27 April 1980, in the city of Jerusalem. At school, he focused all his attention on art and art workshops even if it happened to be at the expense of his academic studies. At the age of five, Ahed got a hold of his first camera, which gave him the opportunity to take his first steps into the world of art.

After finishing high school and while working in his family’s food and coffee manufacturing business, Ahed attended business school at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He soon realised that he was not made to be an accountant. He quit his studies to pursue his passion, concentrating on his innate hobby of painting and photography.

He soon discovered charcoal drawing in which he created a unique style using his fingers to fade the charcoal edges on cotton paper, thus achieving very Feng Shui like drawings. This got people’s attention, which, in turn, gave Ahed the opportunity to exhibit his work around Jerusalem between 1995 and 1997. From that point on Ahed was frequently involved in many workshops around the city.

Ahed decided to continue his career in art and travelled to Florence, Italy, to study art history and Italian, during which time he had the opportunity to meet many artists from around the world. Upon his return to Jerusalem, he spent two years at Musrara College of Fine Arts in Jerusalem, where he was involved in various art activities.

In 2007, he established his own atelier and began to offer various art workshops in Jerusalem for youth who could not enrol in other schools. His teaching methods include various hands-on art techniques. He gained quite a reputation around Jerusalem through his volunteer work at a number of institutions and schools in the city.

Later Ahed enrolled in an intensive three-year programme at a photography school in Jerusalem where he managed to create new art work that combined photography and painting. Afterwards he began to work as a freelance photographer, being inspired by his childhood hobby, and sold his photographs to a French news agency. This enabled him to save some money during difficult political times and to make a name for himself.

Ahed currently works as a professional photographer for international organisations, such as the UNDP and the EU, which operate in the Palestinian territories. He documents their projects through his camera lens. Towards the end of 2009, Ahed established an art course at the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) in Jerusalem, which caters to various genders and ages.

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