Anerkennungspreis des Landes Niederösterreich "Sonderpreis 2021"Description
After completing a degree in sociology, Verena Prenner was drawn to the Middle East. She first lived in Tel Aviv and later in a Palestinian refugee camp, where she carried out sociological field work and staged photography projects. From the effects of the erection of the Israeli security wall on the life and work of Palestinian taxi drivers to the refugee camp society. “How do precarious living conditions affect individuals? How is this society organized, what kind of structures do we find here? And how does living there affect me personally, my own behavioural patterns and perspectives? Daily routines were shaped by the Muslim culture and religion, a life between haram and halal, what is forbidden and what is allowed. Between these there is only minimal individual space, especially for women. The residents were very surprised about me, as a single woman, moving into the camp. Very soon I was seen as an Israeli or Palestinian spy and as an inferior woman. After months there and two more stays, mutual trust slowly built up. Eventually I was no longer a stranger and I decided to realize a photographic work, not just outside the camp but also inside it. Which raised the big question: What do you show?”
