NAKBA : Day Of Rememberance

 

Nakba, meaning "catastrophe" in Arabic, refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which resulted in around 750,000 Palestinians being expelled or fleeing their homes. It is a deeply traumatic event in Palestinian collective memory and continues to shape their struggle for justice and their right to return to their homes. (Source:Wikipedia)

I photographed the Remembrance event in Washington Square Park, Manhattan, New York City, on Friday, May 15, 2026. The event was attended by hundreds of people of various religious denominations, and of different races and heritage.

The young women seen in the crowds move through demonstrations with their keffiyeh folded and tied—not merely as fabric but as a banner that maps history across their shoulders.

MAY DAY PROTESTS | Washington Square Park

 

“May Day” stems from the labor movement that blossomed in the late 1800s, with workers trying to reduce their work hours from up to 20 hours a day to eight hours a day.

Those demands, along with demands for better wages and working conditions, continued into the 1880s when a powerful union established May 1, 1886 as a day for a general strike to push for the eight-hour work day.

Four years later, May Day, or “International Worker’s Day,” was observed around the world for the first time.

These are some photographs I made of a May Day protest at Washington Square Park on Friday, May 1, 2026.

New York City's Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave a speech under its Arch, but I was too late to attended it.

I was given this flyer by one of the marchers:

MAMBAKO | Percussion In Washington Square Park

Mambako is a professional artistic group of drums, dance and theater that performed at Washington Square Park on March 28, 2026. The group is originally from Bogota, Colombia and aims at diversity, equality and art as a channel of freedom and transformation.

THE AI CORNER: CHINESE LIONS & MODELS

Having photographed Lion Dances during Chinese New Year several times over the past few years, I wanted to build on that experience with a new concept: using lion heads and bodies as props in a fashion shoot featuring Asian models wearing colorful qipaos. I haven’t yet reached out beyond locating martial arts schools that train the dancers, so I don’t know how receptive they might be to the idea—but it’s worth exploring.

To visualize the concept, I fed prompts into MidJourney and generated AI images to use as creative inspiration. These mockups helped refine the mood, color palettes, poses, and compositions I’d like to try on set. 

The initial step is to use MidJourney to generate a set of images as inspiration/mood board for this project.

And subsequently contact local lion dance troupes and martial arts schools to determine feasibility, discuss logistics, and cultural considerations.