Wings of Childhood and Peace
Mahmoud Abu Hamda, Palestine
Mahmoud Abu Hamda is a Palestinian photographer based in Gaza who has been working professionally since 2011. His work encompasses various subjects, with a recent focus on documenting conflict, displacement, and humanitarian crises. Mahmoud’s photography has been featured by Magnum Photos and TRT World, earning him awards including the Lucie Awards Impact Award in 2023. He collaborates with organizations to share Gaza’s reality and his own experiences within the crisis serve as powerful testaments to resilience, despair, dignity, and humanity.
“Wings of Childhood and Peace” documents moments from the lives of children in Gaza who try to hold on to what remains of their childhood, despite war, displacement, fear, and the harsh reality surrounding them.
The photographs show children playing, smiling, running, caring for their birds and animals, or creating temporary spaces of joy from the smallest details. These moments do not deny the pain, but they reveal the children’s ability to search for life even in the darkest places.
The project focuses on the idea that peace for children in Gaza is no longer a distant or abstract concept. Instead, it appears in a moment of play, in a fleeting smile, in a dove held by a displaced child, or in a small attempt to regain a sense of safety.
Through these images, the project seeks to say that childhood in Gaza has not completely disappeared, but it lives under immense pressure and needs to be seen and protected. These children are not asking for much; they are only searching for a safe space to play, a simple right to joy, and a peace that allows them to be children.