Eager to Live and Survive
Eager to Live and Survive
By Jessica Hajjar
In Artworks
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Item details:
▸ Features: Limited Edition Framed▸ Art technique: Photography
▸ Dimensions (cm): 14.8 x 21.0 x 2.0
▸ Net Weight (kg): 2.0
Technique: No specific technique
Details (before color selection): Nikon D5500 | F/5.6 | 1/500 | ISO-100
Production year: 2025
Context: Coming back home, this lady determined to breathe life into the neighborhood, planting a bag of seeds rescued from the ruins of her house.
Artist Statement
When I heard the word aftermath, 2 life-changing events immediately came to mind: the Beirut Port explosion and the recent Israeli war in Lebanon, specifically in my hometown. I knew right away that my work would reflect one of them. In both events, it felt like life froze. Time stopped. Debris, silence, stillness, disorientation.
Even today, we’re no longer fleeing attacks, and the civil war ended decades ago, but in my hometown, nothing ever truly returned to normal. Empty houses, grass growing over stairs, fig trees bursting through balconies, stray cats claiming forgotten spaces. Then, Israeli missiles came again, hitting differently this time. A shock. A rupture. Pain. Unbearable. A reopening of wounds that never fully healed.
A ghosted place haunts our dreams. Pain refuses to disappear. It resurfaces where it hurts most, where it bleeds most, despite the layers of Band-Aids we’ve placed over it.
My artwork may not seem abstract or conceptual. To the naked eye, it might even look mainstream, but for me, it’s not. Each photograph is a raw wound, unfiltered, unapologetic. Each photo reveals the pain, the wounds, inside me, inside us, inside my family, my people, hidden or on the surface, grief haunting us in every possible way.
This is my way of documenting aftermaths, not just as memory, but as a living, ongoing presence. Where it hurts most is in how the hand, eager to live and survive, has tried to revive what remains, patching wounds, however imperfectly, and pushing forward through the aftermath.
About Jessica Hajjar
Jessica Hajjar is a Photographer at heart, an MBA graduate by choice, and somewhat an Architect by academia, unintentionally. Born in 1992 in a beautiful town in the heart of Bekaa, her journey began at home, where pictures meant a lot to the family, especially to her mom. Then, as she went to the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik to study Architecture, she developed her passion for photography through practice and side courses and as the photographer for the university’s sports team.
Using her beloved Nikon D5500, Jessica’s lens naturally focuses on landscapes, portraits, nature, sunsets, and the quiet details that often go unnoticed. Always looking and searching for the meaning and purpose of her life, her work is shaped by a constant desire to explore the world around her, her hometown, the people she meets, or the way light falls at golden hour.
In her free time, you’re likely to find her hiking in the mountains, running along the coastline, or getting lost in a good book, especially biographies, fiction, or anything that helps her see life from another point of view. All leading into more exploration.
A bit far from art, professionally, Jessica serves as a Project Manager for donor-funded programs that support Lebanon and the MENA region. With over 8 years of experience in the non-profit and education sectors, she has been deeply involved in initiatives focused on youth empowerment and social change both through her career and long-term volunteering.