Big picture: Women Of Gaza, by Tanya Habjouqa

The scrubby sand on Gaza City beach is, despite appearances, one of the nicer places for a picnic in this impoverished city under seige. Peaceful (relatively) and open – and one of the few spaces accessible by all classes – it’s a reminder that there is a world beyond the blockades and harsh conditions of everyday Gaza life. The sight of families driving on to the beach with picnics and shisha in hand is common. → Photograph: Tanya Habjouqa

Tanya Habjouqa’s Women Of Gaza series aims to capture moments of joy and respite for Palestinian women who are trying to live normal lives – caring for their families, getting an education and pursuing careers against the odds. She has photographed schoolgirls on a boat ride, → Photograph: Tanya Habjouqa

university students on campus, newlyweds and Asma Al-Ghul, a journalist and outspoken critic of Hamas, playing with her young son. → Photograph: Tanya Habjouqa

Habjouqa forms part of Rawiya, the first all-female photographers’ collective to emerge from the Middle East. → Photograph: Tanya Habjouqa

All six photojournalists are united in a wish to tell the personal stories of the lives that surround them, rather than rely on outsiders. → Photograph: Tanya Habjouqa

'Women in the Middle East are subject to lot of stereotyped ideas,' Habjouqa says. → Photograph: Tanya Habjouqa

'We want to change the way we are seen.' • Realism In Rawiya runs until 20 April at the New Art Exchange, Nottingham, part of the FORMAT 13 Festival Photograph: Tanya Habjouqa