Occupied Pleasures presents a nuanced, multi-dimensional portrayal of humanity’s ability to find pleasure in the face of trying circumstances in Occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza. Occupied Pleasures straddles passive and active meanings: to be occupied under Israel, and to occupy oneself, joyfully and defiantly, in pastime and simple pleasures.
More than four million Palestinians live in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, where the political situation regularly intrudes upon the most mundane of moments. Movement is circumscribed and threat of violence often hangs overhead. This creates the strongest of desires for the smallest of pleasures, and a sharp sense of humour about the absurdities that a 47-year occupation has produced.

Tanya Habjouqa is an award-winning photographer, journalist and educator. Her practice links social documentary, collaborative portraiture and participant observation. Her principal interests include gender, representations of otherness, dispossession and human rights, with a particular concern for ever-shifting sociopolitical dynamics in the Middle East.
Trained in journalism and anthropology with an MA in Global Media and emphasis on Middle East Politics from University of London SOAS, Habjouqa produces in-depth narratives that offer nuanced alternatives to mainstream media depictions of her subjects. Her work often reflects a desire to trace common humanity.
Based in East Jerusalem, Habjouqa is half-Texan, half-Jordanian, with Circassian ancestry, possessing a diverse background rich in narrative, folklore, black humor, and hospitality.
Habjouqa’s project Occupied Pleasures received support from the Magnum Foundation and achieved a World Press Photo award in 2014. Culminating in a namesake book by FotoEvidence, it was heralded by TIME magazine and the Smithsonian as one of the best photo books of 2015.
Habjouqa’s work has been exhibited worldwide and is in the collections of MFA Boston, Institut du Monde Arab, and the Carnegie Museum of Art. She is a founding member of Rawiya, the first all-female photography collective from the Middle East.
She is a mentor on the ground breaking educational initiative Arab Documentary Photography Program, organised by Magnum Foundation, Prince Claus Foundation, and AFAC.
Tanya Habjouqa is a member of Noor and represented by East Wing, an international platform for photography founded in Doha, Qatar.