North Gallery
Yousef Khanfar
We Belong to the Land
February 21 thru April 22, 2005
At
the tender age of six, Yousef Khanfar was given a camera as a gift
from his father, Deeb Khanfar, himself an ardent admirer of photography.
Some of his earliest memories consist of taking pictures of sand dunes
and developing them in a dark room with his older brother. He recalls, “I
would stand mesmerized for hours while watching the light dance with
the sand dunes. Since I was a young boy, the light has fascinated me.” Little
did Khanfar, or the world for that matter, know the immense talent
and skill that was to be unearthed through the hands of this Palestinian
photographer.
After his parents fled Palestine, losing both their land and their
home, Kahnfar was born and raised in Kuwait and grew up amidst the
numerous atrocities of war. Having never seen his homeland, his photographs
stand as testament to the belief that all landscapes have become “his
land.” Coming of age in Kuwait, Khanfar found himself encircled
by the intense devastation and tragedy of wartime events. Through photography,
he was able to find an escape from the violence that surrounded him
daily. “I needed a voice to express my feeling and photography
gave me that voice. The camera is my passionate pen, the light is my
infinite ink, and the film is my poetry paper.”
When he was eighteen, Khanfar moved to the United States, hoping to experience the diversity of landscape that he had only read about as a boy in Kuwait. Intrigued by the vibrant energy and endless optimism he found in America, Khanfar spent the next 20 years taking photographs around the world. Based in Oklahoma, he has since built a collection that Ken Whitmire, President of the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, has called “a breathtaking and dazzling body of work.” At present, Yousef Khanfar finds his home in Oklahoma, where he continues to create stunning photographs of the landscapes that surround and inspire him.
As Khanfar’s body of work increased, so did the honors bestowed
upon him. In 2003, he was listed as one of the top 35 photographers
in the world by the London publication RhotoVision. His work has been
published in numerous journals and magazines including Oklahoma Today,
Oprah, Photo Art International, Amateur Photographer, Photo Life, Outdoor
Photographer, and Nature’s Best. Today Khanfar stands as the
Exhibits Chairman for the Photography Hall of Fame and Museum in Oklahoma
City where he exhibits major name photographers from all over the world.
Maturing
in a context of war and conflict, it only makes since that Khanfar
would be drawn to study and photograph the light, saying, “light
is the everlasting soul of art.” His work is a tribute to light,
and the beauty of nature itself. Through his photographs we receive
a message of peace and serenity that is echoed in Khanfar’s own
words, “I chose to carry my camera instead of a gun, to tell
my story and to promote peace around the world.” This message
of peace has become increasingly significant in a modern era comprised
of escalating suffering and adversity. Khanfar’s work stands
as a dictum of harmony and tranquility in an otherwise chaotic world. To
learn more about Khanfar and his work visit his web site www.yousefkhanfar.com.
– Amanda Heitzmann, Oklahoma Arts Council Intern
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council. For more information contact Scott Cowan or Karen Sharp at 405.521.2931 or scott@arts.ok.gov.