Rula Halawani uses photography to capture the everyday struggles and conflicts faced by the Palestinians, experiences that she herself lives daily as an artist from East Jerusalem. Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation, ‘The Bride is Beautiful but she is married to another man’ is a photographic series developed in three different chapters. The title draws from a phrase reportedly uttered by two rabbis after their visit to Mandate Palestine, as a metaphor for this flourishing (but inhabited) land. The works address the cruelty of border crossings, with their dehumanising searches and scans. Halawani made several trips to these checkpoints over time, documenting these processes. Originally using the effect of X-rays on film to produce haunting images of the walkways and caged passages, the artist soon shifted focus to the people. By photographing individuals moments before they were subjected to the degrading measures, Halawani preserves and affirms their humanity and dignity. Two of the ten portraits are now part of Sharjah Art Foundation Collection.