Rula Halawani, a native of occupied East Jerusalem, began her artistic career documenting the challenges of living under a protracted political conflict. Her early works capture the multifaceted realities of life under military occupation, from the mundane struggles of daily tasks to the sudden transformation of Palestinian neighborhoods, towns, and cities into war zones during violent sieges. After years of photographing the stark imagery that defines Palestinian life, Rula shifted her focus to the spatial dimensions of the Occupation, documenting its built environments and the architectural systems that serve as central mechanisms of control. Recently, she has turned her lens toward the often overlooked traces of lives and history, whether in the material culture of Palestinian society or the altered landscapes of her childhood.

Rula holds a bachelor’s degree in advanced photography from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada (1989), and a master’s degree in photographic studies from the University of Westminster, London (2001). Based in Jerusalem, she is a lecturer in the Visual Art program at Birzeit University.