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Laura Boushnak is a Kuwait-born Palestinian photographer based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her work mainly focuses on the Arab world, looking at issues that she finds stem from her own personal experience of gender, education, and aftermath of war. 

After receiving a degree in Sociology from the Lebanese University in Beirut in 1999, Boushnak infused her interest in social issues with her passion for the visual arts and began her career as a photographer for the Associated Press in Lebanon. She then went on to work with the Agence France-Presse (AFP) at its Middle East hub in Cyprus and its headquarters in Paris. During this nine-year span, Boushnak’s experience included covering hard news in conflict zones such as the war in Iraq and the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. 

In some parts of the world, half of the women lack basic reading and writing skills. The reasons vary, but in many cases, literacy isn't valued by fathers, h...

As of 2008, she has been working as an independent photographer, commissioned for editorial assignments by the New York Times and other publications, while also giving more of her time to long-term personal projects in the Middle East.

Boushnak’s main focus has been on her on-going projects, “I Read I Write” and “Survivor.”  The former revolving around Arab women’s education and literacy, while the latter highlights the aftermath of war and its impact on individuals long after the fighting has ended. Both projects have received honorable awards and recognition including:  the first Getty Images/ lean-in editorial grant, The Terry O’neil Photography Award in the UK, and two honorable mentions in the UNICEF Photo of the Year Award. 

Her work has been part of public and private collections, which include the British Museum, and has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, such as the Birmingham Museum in the UK, the Sharjah Art Museum in the UAE, and The Arp Museum Bahnhof Ralandseck in Germany. 

Boushnak is a TED fellow and has been invited to give talks in different parts of the world, including two separate TED talks in 2014 and 2016, where she shared the stories behind her “I Read I Write” and “Survivor” projects to a worldwide audience. 

She is the co-founder of RAWIYA, the first photo collective in the Middle East. 

Awards:

2016: Honourable mention at the UNICEF Photo of the Year Award.

2014: Getty Images/lean inn editorial grant

2014: TED Global fellow member

2013: Overall winner of the Terry O'neill award.

2013: Honourable mention at the UNICEF Photo Of the Year Award.

2012: Honorable mention, “Survivor” multimedia, lens exposure award. 

2011: Peace Media award from Peace x Peace organization in Washington. 

2011: 1st Honorable Mention receiver for Professional Category IPC, out of Beirut Closet.

2010: Shortlisted for highly commended entries at Freedom to Create Prize for the project I Read I Write. 

EXHIBITION

2019: Solo Show, I Read I Write, Ort Gallery, Birmingham, UK.

2019: Solo show, I read I write, Contemporary Art Platform, Kuwait

2018: Group exthibition, Objectif, Singapore

2016: Open Source, New York, RAWIYA show

2014: Sharjah Museum

2014: Art Center, Hong Kong

2013: Birmingham Museum, UK.

2013: Modem Museum, Hungary.

3013: Malmo Konsthall Museum, Sweden. 

2013: Dali Photo Festival, China.

2013: Liverpool International Festival/LOOK13.

2013: Art Paris 2013, Mark Hachem gallery.

2013: Buldmuseet Museum, Umea, Sweden.

2012: CAP gallery, Kuwait