July 13 Thursday, 13 July 2006 - It is war. Yesterday I came home from a dinner party where everyone wondered how Israel would react to the kidnapping of two of its soldiers. No one figured they would bomb the airport – least of all me, who was flying to Athens the next day for the opening of my photo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum. Its title, “1982”, named after the year of the last invasion of Lebanon by Israel. There are power cuts, planes are hovering in the skies above, and I’m walking around the house not knowing what to do. The telephone still works but for how much longer? (75x50) Beirut 2006
July 14 14 July - My neighbours left this morning after a frightening night of bombing raids on the suburbs. I’m alone in the building, surrounded by the humming of the generators that provide electricity a few hours a day. I put on a record by Marianne Faithfull in an attempt to drown the sound of the planes but I soon take it out: incompatibility of situation ? I think of my girlfriend in Alexandria who certainly worries like mad. I check my e-mails. No message from her among the ads for “Viagra”, “Cialis” and “Enlarge your Penis”, but one from a friend abroad who worries about me: “I don’t know what to say, there’s no such thing as a greeting card saying ‘Sorry, your city is under siege’ but I just want you to know you’re on my mind’.” (33x40) Beirut 2006
July 15 15-07-2006 - I can’t go on reading “The Brothers Karamazov”. Ever since the war started, I keep stumbling over this passage, page 807, in the chapter called ‘The Devil’: “[...] But till that happens I am sulking and fulfil my destiny though it’s against the grain – that is, to ruin thousands for the sake of saving one. How many souls have had to be ruined and how many honourable reputations destroyed for the sake of that one righteous man, Job, over whom they made such a fool of me in old days! Yes, till the secret is revealed, there are two sorts of truths for me – one, their truth, yonder, which I know nothing about so far, and the other my own. And there’s no knowing which will turn out the better... Are you asleep?” (32,5x50) Istanbul 2006
July 16 Sunday 16 - I’ve had my youngest son evacuated by boat a few hours before the bombing of the port. It’s a mere 400 metres away from home. I jumped at the noise of the planes ripping through the sound barrier, two loud bangs, before they dropped their bombs. From the living room, I could see the smoke rise from the port, the same that I see on TV. I’ve lost my appetite, the food in the fridge is turning bad. I live on nuts, coffee and cigarettes, and vodka at night to help me sleep. (26,5x40) Istanbul 2006
July 17 Monday, 17 July, midnight - My girlfriend just phoned from Alexandria, I’m overwhelmed with joy at her voice. After the initial intro, she tells me, with carefully chosen words, that she wants to leave me. The firm tone of her voice announces an irrevocable decision. – But we love each other! – Yes, more than anything else in the world, but I don’t love you the way you want. I’m walking up and down the room in the dark, I hear the planes in the sky and her breath over the phone. – Do you really think this is the right moment to say this? – Is there a right moment to say this kind of thing? (26x40) Beirut 2006
July 18 Tuesday, 18 July - I couldn’t sleep. I still can’t believe it. I can’t stop thinking about her, about the past three years we spent together. I regret the time I took to accept the difference in age between us, the time I took to overcome each crisis. “Seeing each other again at any cost, we can’t break up over the phone, we have to talk to each other straight in the face.” Will she accept? But where shall we meet? And how can I leave with these hordes racing toward the Syrian border? (50x33) Istanbul 2006
July 19 Wednesday 19 - Another sleepless night. I ring a friend for help. 7th floor, and no elevator. I take a pocket lamp and climb the stairs. In the middle of our discussion on today’s renewed attacks, I manage to confide my grief. She doesn’t quite understand my distress, the war prevails: today’s bombing of Beirut was massive, a power plant as well as a milk and a toilet paper factory have been destroyed, the body count keeps increasing. I return home alone, walking through dark streets, meditating on the ways of rationing toilet paper. (29,7x75) Beirut 2006
July 20 20 July - I wake up with the conviction that Israeli bombings are not the result of a thoughtful policy but of a pathological violence. One by one, my projects and predictions start going awry. I wrote to S. in Alexandria, asking her to meet me in Istanbul, the city she loves. Whatever dates she chooses, I go with – it’s easier that way, since I’ve lost all points of reference. She rings me back a few hours later, shortly after a bomb struck next to the house, targeted at a drilling truck that was (wrongfully?) mistaken for a missile launcher. My heart is racing as I listen to her voice... she agrees. In the conversation, she asks me if her CD collection has been damaged and wonders if I could bring along her orange court shoes. (40x50) Istanbul 2006
July 21 Friday 21 - The irony of the day: Israel has just warned the Lebanese army that, should it try and oppose the military strikes, it would immediately be attacked as well. “Israel is not at war with Lebanon”, insists its Prime Minister. Still, he evokes the risk of a ground invasion. I’m trying to find a cab that would get me to Syria on a safe road. Yesterday evening, Israel bombed the road to Damascus and took aim at the border post of Al Masnaa. (16,5x24) Beirut 2006
July 22 Saturday 22 - “Petrol is getting scarce, roads are becoming increasingly dangerous, prices are going up” – those are the main topics that I discuss with taxi drivers. I spend the rest of the day saying goodbye to friends. – Are you afraid of the war? – No, it’s something else. Someone offers me a can of petrol. – “Just in case”, he says. (39,4x50) Istanbul 2006
By the lake Karaoun Lebanon 1973
Tea time Aramoun Lebanon 1973
Ainata Lebanon 1973
The machine Ainata Lebanon 1973
Refuelling Ainata 1973
Woman in Zebid Yemen 1973
Boy up the stairs Sanaa 1973
Street I Sanaa 1973
Street II Sanaa 1973
Street III Sanaa 1973
Give way Essex England 1973
Le pont de Tancarville France 1973
Lendemain de fête Rouen France 1973
The empty pool Lebanon 1974
Portobello Road London 1974
Maida Vale London 1974
Younine Lebanon 1974
Baskinta Lebanon 1974
Sahel Alma Lebanon 1974
Chnan'ir Lebanon 1974
The coastal road Lebanon 1974
Beit Zakhia Amchit Lebanon 1974
Douma Lebanon 1974
Zebid Yemen 1973
A street in Zebid Yemen 1973
The entrance Zebid Yemen 1973
Batroun area Lebanon 1974
Akkar Lebanon 1974
Akkar Lebanon 1974
Taiz Hodeida road Yemen 1973
The docks Wapping London 1974
3 bottles of milk Wapping London 1974
Girl in Wapping London 1974
Statue of salt Hyde Park London 1975
Ehmej Jbeil mountain 1075
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general view Sanaa 1975
Cattle in the street Sanaa 1975
Arriving in Saada Yemen 1975
General view of Saada Yemen 1975
Greeting children in Saada Yemen 1975
Street in Saada Yemen 1975
Wadi Dahr Sanaa 1975
The stairway Paris 1976
Centre Pompidou Paris 1977
The couple Forence 1977
Galleria degli Uffizi Florence 1977
The pub Covent garden London 1978
London England 2002
Covent Garden London 1979
Gare de Lyon Paris 1978
Sardenia Italy 1978
The tide England 1978
July 23 Sunday 23 - A three-hour journey with my eldest son, travelling over small mountain roads (the main highway has been bombed in several places). “I don’t love you the way you want” – the sentence keeps ringing in my head. What if we said it differently, for example: “You don’t love me the way I want”? Our driver drives well and fast, he keeps silent – except for the last part of the trip, just before the border, when he starts talking like mad. When we arrive, I ask him what this sudden speech was all about. “I wanted to distract your son’s attention from the burnt cars on the side of the road.” (26x120) Lebanon 2006
Gauloises Marseille 1979
The picnic Baalbek Lebanon 1979
Deir el Ahmar Lebanon 1979
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L'Avenue des Francais Beirut 1980
Dina Bliss St Beirut 1980
Football match Makhoul St Beirut 1980
Saida Lebanon 1980
militiaman 1 Beirut 1980
militiaman 2 Beirut 1980
militiaman 3 Beirut 1980
militiaman 4 Beirut 1980
militiaman 5 Beirut 1980
militiaman 6 Beirut 1980
Circle of Deceit Shooting of a scene from Schlöndorff's film Beirut 1980
Homme au parapluie Navon France 1974
The salt marshes Lebanon 1975
shooting of Circle of deceit Beirut 1980
Blow up Greenwich park London 1974
The ice cream Paris 1981
Spying Vittel France 1981
The writing session Vittel France 1981
The mall London 1975
The classroom Borj Hammoud Beirut 1981
Algiers Algeria 1982
Algiers Algeria 1982
The conversation Algiers 1982
Holborn London 1975
Bayswater London 1975
Mayday Paris 1982
The sporting club A few days before the Israeli invasion of Lebanon Beirut 1982
Stefania Paris 1982
Yasser Arafat adressing Nahla Chahhal Beirut 1982
Al-Mourabitoun Zeitouneh Beirut 1982
The shop Victoria London 1975
United Nations' office Beirut 1982
Cité Sportive Bombing of the stadium by the Israeli Army. Beirut 1982
The "Cité Sportive" after its bombing by the Israeli Army on the first day of the invasion. Beirut 1982
The bombed bedroom Refugee camp of Burj el Brajneh Beirut 1982
Barbir's East-West crossing Beirut 1982
Peace for Galilee I Israeli airforce bombarding Beirut Beirut 1982
Peace for Galilee II Israeli bombing of Beirut Beirut 1982
Peace for Galilee III Israeli bombing of Beirut Beirut 1982
Makassed hospital I Beirut 1982
Makassed Hospital II Beirut 1982
Sleiman Boustani St Beirut 1982
The radio Selim and Maya reporting on the war in Beirut Beirut 1982
Palestinian man being asked for his identity card in Burj el Brajneh's camp Beirut 1982
The implosion bomb Rescue work following the bombing of a building in Zarif's quarter. Beirut 1982
11 september 2001: public toilets Iceland 2001
July 24 Monday, 24 July - Amman. Breakfast is served in the garden of the hotel, the shower works, there’s electricity and a telephone. The TV in the corner broadcasts images from Lebanon. I feel like I’m floating. I’m watching the people going about their business. What are they thinking about? That Lebanon died in Congo? The war there caused 4 million victims, the equivalent of the entire Lebanese population. But Congo isn’t lucky enough to have Israel as its neighbour. I organise my eldest son’s departure to Paris and buy myself a single fare to Istanbul. Tonight, for the first time in ten days, I recover my appetite. I’ve left Lebanon behind me, with no sense of guilt whatsoever. (32x50) Beirut 2006
The hairdresser Hamra St Beirut 1982
Two women Beirut 1982
Smile Watching the rescue work following the bombing of a building in Zarif's quarter. Beirut 1982
Bodies rescued from a building destroyed by an "implosion bomb" in Zarif's quarter. Beirut 1982
Implosion of Akar's building in Sanayeh Beirut 1982
Résidence des Pins French Embassy Beirut 1982
Passage du musée East-West crossing Beirut 1982