Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Osama Salwadi is a Palestinian photojournalist, documenter of Palestinian heritage and visual storyteller, born in Ramallah on February 14, 1973. He started his career in 1991. During the first Palestinian uprising, he faced many difficulties and dangers facing everyone working in photojournalism in conflict areas. On October 7, 2006, Osama was seriously injured as he was hit by a stray bullet during a march in downtown Ramallah, which left him partially paralyzed in the lower limbs. Osama won titles inspired by his work in documenting the Palestinian heritage, including Ain Palestine and the Palestinian Heritage Documentator.
Currency
At the age of nineteen, he began working with several local press institutions, then moved to work with Agence France-Presse for four years, then moved to work with Reuters International for more than five years, and then as a chief photographer in the Palestinian territories for the French Gama Agency. In 2004, he founded the Apollo Agency, the first Palestinian photography agency. In 2009 he founded and edited Wameed magazine. He also worked as a consultant for the Yasser Arafat Foundation 2001-2008 to build a photo archiving system. Osama participated in the judging of several photography awards, including the "Young Eyes on the Silk Road Competition", organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Wiki Loves Landmarks competition organized by the Wikimedia Levant Group as part of the global competition in 2017 and 2018.
In addition to news photography, Osama Salwadi worked on documenting the daily life of the Palestinian people through many illustrated stories and documentary projects.
His works and books
The book "Pooh Al-Harir" on the cover of National Geographic magazine
Al-Silwadi has published eleven books, which are:
"The Palestinian Woman is Giving and Creativity" in 1999
"Here we are" in 2005
The book "Palestine... How is it going" in 2008.
The book "The Siege" in 2008
The book "Jerusalem" in 2010 documents life in the city of Jerusalem
Silk Queens book. 2012, documenting traditional Palestinian costumes.
The book "The Stone's Word" in 2014, documents the Palestinian architectural heritage.
The 2014 book "The Choice" includes portraits of the late President Yasser Arafat.
The book "The Land of Roses", a visual documentation of wildflowers in Palestine.
The book "The Decoration of the Canaanites", a visual documentation of traditional Palestinian jewelry and jewelry. The book is in 180 pages of large format and includes color pictures of Palestinian women wearing these jewelry and other pictures of a group of Palestinian veils and incantations used in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The book "Ramallah...The Picture...The Story" documents life in the city of Ramallah in pictures over a quarter of a century. The book was published by Ramallah Municipality in 2018.
Al-Silwadi's photos were published in major international newspapers and magazines during his tenure, such as National Geographic, Time and Newsweek. Al-Silwadi also held many exhibitions locally and internationally, as he exhibited in Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, the United States of America and France.
Important coverage
Part of the first intifada 1989-1995.
The establishment of the Palestinian Authority and the entry of Palestinian forces into cities in the West Bank in 1995.
The entry of the late President Yasser Arafat to the cities of the West Bank after the 1995 Oslo Accords.
The first Palestinian elections in 1996.
The Tunnel Uprising of 1996.
Documentation of Palestinian Bedouin Life from 1997 to 2000
The Palestinian Heritage Documentation Project from 1997 to the Present.
The Israeli occupation of the city of Ramallah in 2002.
The siege of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in 2004-2002.
Al-Aqsa Intifada (Second Intifada) 2000-2005.
Illness and funeral of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in 2004.
The Palestinian presidential elections and the accession of President Mahmoud Abbas to the reins of power in 2005.
Legislative elections in 2006 and the victory of Hamas.
Visual Documentation Project for Palestinian Heritage
Achievements and Awards
Honors and Awards
Osama received many certificates of appreciation, medals and honors, including:
1996 - Certificate of Appreciation from the Palestinian Ministry of Culture for covering the events of the Tunnel Intifada.
1999 - 2nd place in the International Photography Festival in Iraq.
2000 - Honored by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
2010 - Honored by Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival
2012 - The Gold Medal of Merit and Excellence from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
2014 - Honored by the Union of Writers and Writers of Palestine and the National Committee for Education, Culture and Science, and was awarded the title "Eye of Palestine"
2017 Honor from Awladna Festival in Cairo
source
- Years in active
: From
To