AN AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER MAKES A PLEA

I am an American photographer living in Italy and have never lived in an Arab country. Yet, I am also an Arab. I carry it around with me every day with my surname... Abouzeid.

As Americans, we have been anesthetized by media photos of angry terrorists and fanatics such that there's real danger of no longer seeing the Arab world as human beings. We read about the Hezbollah, Al Qaeda and Mujahideen, and believe that every Arab supports these philosophies. Some have even convinced themselves that the Koran drives Muslims to kill.

A HUMAN FACE

I want to put a human face on the Arab World. I want to communicate to all societies real insight into how Arabs live. Help me.

Today, I have established http://www.arab-face.com as a new step of my ongoing project "My enemy, my brother". The goal is simple:

I want to build an archive of photos that photo researchers can tap into. It will show Arab life as it truly is, not as the media many times distorts it.

- daily life;
- family life;
- modern society;
- religious traditions;
- work and play;
- successes and failures;
- weddings and funerals (not war related);
- fashion and nightlife; and
- all aspects of life.

Kindly pass this information on to your photographer friends. Ask them to send me their photos. Contact any professional photographer you know and ask them to support this project.

Submission guidelines:

Format: jpeg (high)
size: no larger than 800 x 800 pixels

Byline credit will be given. Ask them to caption the photo in their email and provide contact details should the media be interested in using their work. I take no commission. This is not a business proposition. In submitting the photo, the photographer grants non-exclusive worldwide rights to display the photo on arab-face.com and include it any promotion material we use to get the message out. All original rights remain with the photographer, including any income that may result from media sales as a consequence of their appearance on the site.

Thank you.

Mark Abouzeid, photographer
mja@arab-face.com

http://www.markabouzeid.com