i took these my first day visiting some friends who lived in Beit Jala for a few months to complete their dissertation research. after the wall we drove towards another town within the west bank. except there was an impromptu roadblock and checkpoint under a bridge, staffed by israeli soldiers. my legs hurt from being on the plane so we walked past the roadblock and up onto the bridge. my friend distracted the soldier on lookout and asked me to take a picture from above of the soldiers and the roadblock. i felt scared, like i was doing something wrong, so i took it quickly. when we started back down i began to feel paranoid, as if the soldiers below would know that i had taken their picture, would know how i felt about the wall and would know that i wasn’t really touring tel aviv, haifa and the dead sea as i’d written on my entry form and told the multiple guards at the airport. so, as a cover, i took this underexposed picture from the top of the bridge; then the next one; then the one of what might be an almond tree