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In the early 1990s, the Gaza Strip was in the midst of the First Intifada, an uprising that began in 1987 as a grassroots protest against decades of Israeli military occupation. Daily life for Palestinians was shaped by curfews, roadblocks, raids and economic restrictions. The Israeli military controlled nearly all movement into and out of the territory, and expressions of resistance were often met with violent suppression. While much of the world saw Gaza only in headlines and political rhetoric, on the ground, families tried to maintain a sense of normalcy under extreme pressure.
In 1991, British photojournalist DJ Clark entered the Shaboura district in southern Gaza to document what life looked like from within. His photographs offer a view of the territory not through the lens of violence alone, but through the quiet persistence of daily routines. Rather than focusing on spectacle or dramatic confrontations, Clark’s work lingers on the social fabric of a population enduring under occupation
Shaboura is both a historical record and a human portrait of a place often reduced to statistics or detached analysis. DJ Clark’s early work remains an important contribution to understanding not only the political realities of the time, but the lived experience of those navigating them.
About DJ Clark
DJ Clark is a multimedia journalist and educator with more than three decades of experience reporting from across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. His work focuses on underrepresented communities, conflict, and social change, combining photography, video, and immersive media to tell complex stories. Early in his career, Clark covered the First Intifada in Gaza and later went on to document post-apartheid South Africa, urban migration in China, and environmental challenges in Southeast Asia.
He is currently the Director of Visual Journalism at the Asia-based media platform China Daily Asia and a course leader at the University of Bolton’s MA in International Multimedia Journalism in Beijing. His work has appeared in The Economist, The Guardian, Al Jazeera and many other international outlets.
In addition to his reporting, Clark is an active mentor and media trainer, with a focus on developing visual journalism in the Global South. He is based in Hong Kong.
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