Tag: beirut

by jad

Middle Finger to the City

The concrete structure sandwiched between the first and last slides in this series is the Interdesign building designed by Khalil Khouri in 1973. As ArchDaily puts it, “the building took 23 years to build, a process halted by the onset of the Lebanese Civil War. By the time it was completed in 1996, the urban landscape that surrounded it had changed. The structure has stood largely unused since, as a relic of hopeful modernity. While its design is singular in its narrative and expression, this structure illustrates the tension between aspiration and struggle throughout its complex history.” I first learned … Continue reading “Middle Finger to the City” →

by jad

Lebanon: Day 9

I was charmed by this whole area. Google Maps insisted on sending us in random directions, but the locals kept us on the right path, joking with us about the almost-nonexistent signage pointing the way. At one point, Google sent us down a road that turned out to be blocked; “maqtou3a, maqtou3a,” a guy on his scooter told us. Before we knew it, another guy in a pickup truck opened up the gate to his farm and told us to drive through his land to get back down to the main road. All in the typical Druze accent and matter-of-fact … Continue reading “Lebanon: Day 9” →

by jad

Lebanon: Day 8

Today’s my last day here. Yesterday, Christine picked up on an “extra sweetness” in my messages, asking me if feeling nostalgic now that my time in Lebanon is coming to an end. I replied: “I’m being sappy I guess.” She put her finger on the pulse: “It’s more than sappy, I think. I can’t imagine having your heart split in two places. And I think that’s what you’re feeling right now. The beautiful agony of knowing you cannot be in two places at once.” I cried. Today is a day to remember. Thousands of families have forced a new status … Continue reading “Lebanon: Day 8” →

by jad

Lebanon: Day 7

I’m nearing the end of my time here in Lebanon. Pages are turning, chapters are closing, narratives are being bookended, and parentheticals are emerging like ducks in a row. It’s gratifying, for example, to see how far @ridersrightslb, the afterlife of the @busmapproject I started working on 10 years ago, has come. I might say more about that at some point. It’s good to put faces to internet names and make new friends. It’s also nice to go with the flow more often. This country isn’t kind to sticks in the mud. There have been days when I’ve slowed down … Continue reading “Lebanon: Day 7” →

by jad

Lebanon: Day 5

“Heritage is never rediscovered; it is only the objects/monuments or the material remains of past socio-cultural dynamics that are rediscovered. The interpretation of these objects creates what is commonly known as Heritage. This creation is carried out through a story-making/storytelling process in which all these ingredients are meticulously positioned according to their differential value and related significance, as Heritage is no more than a value-based construct.” (Assaad Seif, ‘Beirut as a Palimpsest’) I’m reaching the point of the visit when more of the things that make Lebanon “Lebanon” are beginning to grate on my nerves. This was bound to happen; … Continue reading “Lebanon: Day 5” →

by jad

Lebanon: Day 3

Have you heard of Daheshism? Me neither. Not until Abu Imad mentioned Dr. Dahesh (“Astounder”) in passing the other day. Apparently, a “Daheshist believes that all of creation is spread out over a multidimensional universe divided into three principal realms, each divided into 150 levels.” I don’t know about that, but it does sound a little bit like Lebanon. Layer upon layer upon layer. Destroyed and rebuilt again and again, usually worse than before. And yet it endures. Now that’s truly astounding. I’ve been binging on local news in this week of speedy developments; first, a new president, now a … Continue reading “Lebanon: Day 3” →

by jad

Lebanon: Day 2

Weaving through the “Sunday Souk” (also open on Saturdays) isn’t exactly a “shock” to the senses (I’m not an orientalist writing paeans to the grand bazaar), but it certainly is a vibe. There’s one surreal sensory dimension to this Souk that I could never handle for more than a couple of minutes: multiple pre-recorded messages on tiny squawk-boxes and megaphones repeating the latest deals over and over and over and over in the same deadpan monotone. They made me laugh but I could easily see my sanity slip away if I had to endure that for a whole day. I … Continue reading “Lebanon: Day 2” →

by jad

Beirut on Harman Phoenix

I really like the violent contrast and saturation that comes out of this Harman Phoenix film. I took these with a Nikon Lite-Touch point and shoot because I wanted to be “lite” on my feet while walking around Beirut, and I think that really added to the raw quality of some of these photos: whatever makes this stock undesirable to professionals (something something dynamic range) makes it perfect for how I wanted to see this city. I loved this Hamra ready-made so much that I photographed it twice; here it is on Harman Phoenix 200, the world’s newest experimental color … Continue reading “Beirut on Harman Phoenix” →

by jad

Bride of Beirut

This is “Bride of Beirut,” a sculpture that sits “just 675 meters away from the epicenter of the August 4, 2020 Beirut port blast” and commemorates that tragic event with rubble and debris salvaged from the site. It was inspired by the designer’s harrowing experience of fearing for a loved one’s safety that day: “For 10 minutes we didn’t know what was happening because there was no cellular connection.” I hadn’t heard of this artwork when I stumbled on it on my last day in Beirut and found it arresting, though oddly arranged. Like something was missing. The installation had … Continue reading “Bride of Beirut” →

by jad

Christine’s Project: Beirut

“Beirut, I want to escape you, only to crawl back a few days later and embrace you.” These are a couple of digicam test shots from this morning’s shoot with my sister @staceybkl who so kindly took part in @christine.bingham.art‘s ongoing photo-documentation project of her “saints in the mirror.” Don’t tell anyone that I didn’t bring my Fuji’s charger and was rationing shots on a single bar of battery all day. Oops! Thankfully, we still managed to make it happen thanks to Stacey and Antoun!