Photographing on the Ground in Gaza

Sergey Ponomarev, 33, is a freelance photographer covering the conflict in Gaza on assignment for The New York Times. He grew up in Moscow and Ireland and has previously worked for The Associated Press. He spoke to James Estrin from Gaza City on Saturday evening. The conversation has been edited.

Q.

What were you doing today?

A.

I just came back from a funeral. I’ve shot many of them here, but this was different because the shell hit a church and killed a Christian woman, and they had a Christian funeral. I’ve only had Muslim funerals here.

Q.

When did you arrive in Gaza?

A.

More than a week ago, last Thursday. Tyler [Hicks] stayed in Gaza City and I covered the south. I went straight to Rafah and stayed almost a week there at the home of a local photographer.

The first day I photographed some destruction and then he took me to an office that he and other freelancers were renting. While I was filing for early deadline a rocket exploded outside the building. We packed our stuff and ran downstairs just when another rocket hit the building.

Q.

So what were your days like in the south of Gaza?

A.

It was a war routine. You leave early in the morning to see the houses destroyed the night before. Then you go to funerals, then to the hospital because more injured people arrive, and in the evening you go back to see more destroyed houses.

It was the same thing every day, just switching between Rafah and Khan Younis. One morning we woke up quite early from a huge explosion nearby and the neighboring house was destroyed. A day later I moved to Gaza because Tyler was leaving and I had to replace him here.

Q.

Can you tell me about the scene in the hospital in Rafah?

A.

There was a huge shelling in the suburbs of Rafah and we went to the hospital. First I saw a flood of people arriving to the center of Rafah, and we went to the hospital to see the wounded. Several ambulances showed up and there were some children injured. In one ambulance there was a heavily injured older man and two younger men, and one of them was covered with blood and really upset. He fell on his knees, calling on Allah and gesturing.

There was a huge crowd around those people arriving, including guards and medical personnel. They went to the operating room and I followed them. The same upset man was yelling and gesturing, and we were all kicked out from the operating room so as not to distract the doctors.

Q.

So was there a difference between working in the south and working in Gaza City?

A.

Working in the south is much easier because people are more open and easy. In Gaza there is much more media around at funerals or hospitals, and sometimes people get annoyed.

It was easier to work in Khan Younis and Rafah, even though few people understand English. I have light hair and blue eyes and I am from Russia. I am like an elephant in a desert.

During Ramadan you are not allowed to smoke or eat during the day, and they really respected that I didn’t do that. Day by day I built relations with the locals, and they were fine with my being there.

Q.

Did you fast in Gaza too?

A.

‘That’s the way this city lives now — one funeral to another, hiding from bombs and collecting the dead. Bury them and hide again.’

— Sergey Ponomarev

Well, in western enclaves in Gaza you can drink and eat whatever you want, but in Rafah it is better that you fast.

Q.

So how does this compare to other conflicts? You were recently in Ukraine.

A.

This conflict is easier to cover than Ukraine because there are only two different sides and you can clearly understand the motivations of both sides.

There is a clear front line between them, and you understand the threats coming from one side and threats coming from the other side. You should be aware of rockets in Israel and you should be aware of ground attacks or shellings in Gaza.

There are different layers of Ukrainian-held territories and separatist territories, and almost everyone speaks Russian and Ukrainian. It’s just a matter of your accent. So you can be O.K. crossing one checkpoint but not be O.K. crossing another checkpoint because you speak with a slightly different accent. For foreigners it was even tougher because both sides don’t like foreigners.

Here they seem to have more respect for foreigners and more respect for the media.

Q.

How do you prepare and reduce your risk of being hit by a missile if you can’t know where it’s going to hit.

A.

We have to separate ourselves from normal cars, so we stick the letters “TV” in gaffer’s tape on the roof of the car. We also use flak jackets with helmets.

You need to understand how an operator of a drone or jet thinks and the history of the conflict. In Gaza I have been trying not to travel early in the morning or late at night if I need to move from one city to another. I prefer to travel during the day when there is more traffic on the road so a drone operator won’t be suspicious about a single car traveling on the highway at 120 kilometers per hour.

When we were trying to approach Israeli troops, we put our cameras out from the windows to show we’re journalists because they might not see the sign on the windshield or on the roof, but they could see cameras in hands and understand journalists are approaching. During the cease-fire we came close to the border, but when I tried to photograph a Palestinian flag in front and the border fence in the back there were warning shots from Israeli soldiers to tell me to go away.

Q.

What has the last few days been like? There looks like there’s a lot of destruction.

A.

Some neighborhoods were almost destroyed. Most of them closest to the border fence. But some streets nearby are completely O.K.

Q.

Have you seen any Hamas fighters?

A.

When I was in Rafah the photographer I was with would point out a man on the street with a radio and say that he was with Hamas, but they were in plain clothes without vests and guns and no green Hamas ribbon.

Q.

How about in Gaza City?

A.

No, I haven’t seen anyone that I can clearly tell is a Hamas fighter.

Q.

So is this your first time in Gaza, the West Bank or Israel?

A.

I covered the Israel-Lebanon conflict in 2006 and I’ve been other places in the Middle East. I have been to the West Bank on my own projects, but this is my first time in Gaza.

Photo

Palestinian children played on a Ferris wheel on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in Beit Lahiya in the Gaza Strip. July 28, 2014.

Palestinian children played on a Ferris wheel on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in Beit Lahiya in the Gaza Strip. July 28, 2014.Credit Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

Q.

And so what is life like in Gaza? Is there enough food?

A.

People there have told me that, compared to the war in 2012, they have water and they have enough food and they even have electricity.

In the refugee camps they are receiving supplies and receiving food and even though during Ramadan they eat mostly once a day, they have something to eat.

Q.

What is it like to photograph funerals every day?

A.

That’s the way this city lives now — one funeral to another, hiding from bombs and collecting the dead. Bury them and hide again.

People in shelters in schools or in their houses on the ground floor waiting for a bomb to come. Or they hear the sound and wonder whether it is going toward them, or hitting a house nearby. They really have nowhere to hide. What I see is a routine for them of hide, bury, wait, hide again and bury again. Day by day.

By Jmes Estrin