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The latest exhibition at Beit Beirut, \u201cBeyrouth | Beirut,\u201d takes a close look at the city\u2019s hidden beauty, through the lens of Lebanese photographer Fadia Ahmad.<\/p>\n
Curated by Pascale Le Thorel, the exhibition, which opened last month during the Beirut Art Fair, shows just under 100 snaps, selected from seven years of documentation.<\/p>\n
Split into seven sections, the exhibition traces the photographer\u2019s ritual walks around the city that she used to reconnect with her homeland. Born in 1975 in Spain, Ahmad returned to Lebanon in 1991 to study and found herself searching for the missing Lebanese part of her identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was reconciling with my roots,\u201d Ahmad told The Daily Star. \u201cWhen I first came here it was a very hard moment. When I was living abroad, everyone would ask, \u2018What does Fadia mean? Where do you come from? What is Lebanon?\u2019 So I always lived with this dream of going back to my roots when my parents wouldn\u2019t allow me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day I stepped into the Beirut I thought my dream was being realized,\u201d she added, \u201cbut I faced the same questions. I was asked what region I come from, what religion I follow, which political party I support.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to take a step back and my photography helped me do that,\u201d Ahmad said. \u201cI decided to go to the streets every single day, all seasons, all weather, and walk 10,452 steps, mirroring the area of Lebanon, 10,452 kilometers squared.\u201d<\/p>\n
With time, the photographer began seeing the city in a new light and commenced documenting it. It wasn\u2019t until she met Le Thorel in 2003 that her project began to take a more artistic and structured shape.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all started in this building Villa Clara where I met Pascale for the first time,\u201d she said, gesturing to a photo of Villa Clara displayed in the first section of the show. \u201cShe was writing the biography of Shafic Abboud seven years ago and we met.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven is a very important number for me and this exhibition. We met seven years ago. We have seven parts of the exhibition. I\u2019m a seventh daughter. Beirut has been rebuilt seven times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Ahmad started out using an analogue camera, she switched to digital in 2006 after bombings in south Lebanon destroyed her entire archive.<\/p>\n
The section titled \u201cAn Urban Geography\u201d is dedicated to photos of the brightly colored facades of the Ottoman, mandate and art deco houses of Mar Mikhael and Gemmayzeh. In \u201cThe Time Stopped,\u201d Ahmad highlights the abandoned train stations of Lebanon\u2019s former rail system.<\/p>\n
The pictures in \u201cArchitectures – Past and Present Confronted\u201d approach Martyrs Square, Beirut Central District (formerly \u201cAl-Bourj\u201d) and their surroundings, drawing attention to the urban stratification that reshaped Beirut\u2019s former downtown core after the Civil War.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunities\u201d comprises photos of Lebanon\u2019s various religious sects and their presence in Beirut. This section\u2019s centerpiece, \u201cThis is Us,\u201d shows the minaret of the Mohammad al-Amine Mosque and the elongated bell tower of the St. George Maronite Church, standing side by side.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my photos you\u2019ll see the Ottoman-style architecture, the past and present, the stillness of the city,\u201d Ahmad said. \u201cI also didn\u2019t use many photos of people because it is the city of Beirut that matters, so I focused on that. It\u2019s important to explore the details and express that sometimes if you stop and look properly, you will see amazing things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNeighborhood Life\u201d is among the few sections in the exhibition whose photos show people. Here Ahmad shows Beirut\u2019s communities of homeless people, shopkeepers and cafe owners with whom she interacted during her daily walks. The last two sections are devoted to the seaside Corniche and the fishermen who make a living there.<\/p>\n
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