Tag: photography

by jad

Valentine

Next year, it’ll be 20 years since a defining moment in my life and in the lives millions of people in Lebanon, which feels unthinkable, so I’d rather do that thinking today, when it’s “only” been 19 – where has the time gone? On Valentine’s Day in 2005, a massive car bomb tore through Rafik Hariri’s motorcade and changed the course of Lebanese history. That’s saying a lot in a storied place like that, but this is my witness, and for me and for my generation, the arc of time abruptly swerved off of its tracks that day. I rethought … Continue reading “Valentine” →

by jad

Seattle Central Library

I remember watching a lecture by Rem Koolhaas on his practice and philosophy that included his work on the Seattle Central Library before ever moving here. There was a part where he showed how a statistical bar graph of some kind (I could look this up) was used very literally as the basis for the multiple volumes of space that make up this strange civic monument. He called OMA’s approach “parametricism,” which became a whole architectural style that “relies on programs, algorithms, and computers to manipulate equations for design purposes.” That word stuck with me. I still use it today … Continue reading “Seattle Central Library” →

by jad

Black History Month

There’s a lot of talk right now in astrology circles about stepping into our most future-forward selves with the turning of the plutonic clock towards an age of Aquarius, and the best advice has been to figure out what that means by looking at how far we’ve come. There are certain dates they suggest to help mark these shifts, but I’m less interested in the details of the plot than I am in the overall shape of the story being told: that our tomorrow is forged in yesterday’s fire and quenched today. I had the honor of being invited into … Continue reading “Black History Month” →

by jad

Photography is Slow Montage

“Our art is for someone – even if it starts as for just ourselves.” Wise words from @thecryptidofyourheart. There’s something to be said about the symbiotic relationship between urbanism and photography; the two seem inseparable to me, so much so that “street photography” feels like a tautology – it should just be photography, with “studio photography” being the bastard child. That’s why photography and public transport are such a good fit. But I don’t know if I even think photographically, if I’m honest. I know more about Robert Bresson than Henri Cartier-Bresson, and though I’m not much of a cinéaste … Continue reading “Photography is Slow Montage” →

by jad

Thereness & Hereness

Yesterday, I used the word “thereness” to express how I look at the world photographically, but that’s a retrospective notion – in the moment of decision, the feeling is best captured by “hereness” – here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, so help me God. I’ve noticed this before, whenever I’ve walked through familiar places with a camera in hand; somehow, the world makes itself manifest in a different light that way. But a photo walk with others doing the same adds yet another dimension: the rhythm becomes corporate, a pooling of a liturgy of attention that’s more than idiosyncratic. … Continue reading “Thereness & Hereness” →

by jad

Aquarian Eye

“Many people, when writing about photography say that it always shows what we already know—that which is common knowledge. I think this assertion should be corrected to say instead: photography always shows what we think we know.” (Luigi Ghirri) I woke up today to a message from a Lebanese visual artist that rattled me a little, given that we’d never interacted before, and that I respect their work. It said, in response to a thing about astrology I’d thrown up in my stories: “The aqua moon explains how I can never grasp your point of view through your photography. Not … Continue reading “Aquarian Eye” →

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

Origin Story (Still in Progress)

I took this on my first ever photowalk today, using the digicam I brought back from Lebanon. I’m glad I brought it along, because it was -9 °C out and I could barely operate my other camera for more than a couple minutes at a time. I very quickly learned that I had the wrong gloves and lenses for staying nimble on a day like today. So, what was I thinking going out on one of the coldest days of the year to cosplay as photographer? I was thinking that I need to start getting out of my own way … Continue reading “Origin Story (Still in Progress)” →

by jad

New Year’s Eve, 2023

There’s been an odd circularity to this year; an ouroboros of inner work that opened and is now closing the year on themes of loving others more deeply by tending more gently to oneself. Lully, lulla,thou little tiny child,by by, lully lullay. That hymn made me weep on the First of January and today, on the Thirty-First of December, the symmetry was not lost on me when I was asked to read these lines from a once-familiar lectern: “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”” … Continue reading “New Year’s Eve, 2023” →

by jad

Christine’s Project: Mizyara

Today, I had the privilege of visiting a most unique shrine with the most touching story, a living tribute to not just one saint, but two—Maria Goretti and her unlikely acolyte, Raya Chidiac. It was an honor to be greeted by Raya’s mother, Marie, who has made it her ministry to share St. Goretti’s message of universal forgiveness through the heartbreak of losing her daughter Raya in a cruel parallel across centuries. And when she says “through” Raya, she means it quite literally: it was Raya who came to a stranger in a dream, asking for a shrine to be … Continue reading “Christine’s Project: Mizyara” →