Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah, « Adrift »
Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah’s exhibition Adrift at the Speos Gallery – 7 rue Jules Vallès, 75011 Paris, from March 17 to April 10, 2015.
Adrift, a series of in-camera multiple exposure landscapes created over several years in Morocco and Turkey, was born out Palestinian-American photographer, Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah’s restlessness in search of a solid identity.
Visiting countries where Laila has a past or present connection to, the images provide both a physical and emotional reflection on what constitutes home and consider the dynamic changes that have been occurring on the ground in the Middle East for decades and that will continue to occur. The idea of longing for home—even if you’ve never lived there—or the longing to maintain a connection to a place that you may never experience in the same way your family has, is something she has contemplates often. The moving landscapes are a reminder of how a photograph can capture a place you once knew, of one that may not exist in the future, and of the transient and malleable meaning of home.
Born in Geneva and raised in Washington, D.C Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah is a photographer whose work reflects her constant reproach as to what constitutes home by photographing the places she has lived and the objects within them. Laila completed a B.A. in Arts & Culture with a concentration in Photography and Art as Social Action from George Mason University in 2007. She worked as a photography and gallery assistant in Washington before moving to Paris in 2009 to study at Speos Photographic Institute. Since returning to Washington, Laila has exhibited her work and curated photography related exhibitions in Paris, Washington and the Middle-East.