40 images Created 8 Sep 2022
Nothing Left But Hope
Between 1975 and 1990 Lebanon suffered 15 years of civil war accompanied by distressing social, economic, physical, and political ruin.
In the late 1990s, I observed the rebuilding of Lebanon through frequent visits and documented structural changes in downtown Beirut. Whilst new facades were going up and new buildings were being built, I found myself focusing on daily life within establishments or places that were unlikely to see change. An elderly care home in Beirut, exposing loneliness, isolation, fragility, and sometimes the inadvertent neglect of its inhabitants, or the within the walls of a hospital for the disabled, whose patients were still suffering in silence from the ravages of war.
Within Shatila, a Palestinian Refugee Camp and the adjacent neighbourhood of Sabra, (notorious for the 1982 massacres) I found myself making my way through a labyrinth of bombed out concrete buildings where families lived, and children were born and raised. Open sewage, garbage, intermittent electricity, cars lay scattered about, the remnants of bomb blasts of the past. Despite the daily struggle of life, life continued for the thousands who still live there. Many unemployed and destitute, but the spirit and strength of adults and children alike was incredulous, not only offering to share what food or drink they had but also offering warmth and friendship.
In the late 1990s, I observed the rebuilding of Lebanon through frequent visits and documented structural changes in downtown Beirut. Whilst new facades were going up and new buildings were being built, I found myself focusing on daily life within establishments or places that were unlikely to see change. An elderly care home in Beirut, exposing loneliness, isolation, fragility, and sometimes the inadvertent neglect of its inhabitants, or the within the walls of a hospital for the disabled, whose patients were still suffering in silence from the ravages of war.
Within Shatila, a Palestinian Refugee Camp and the adjacent neighbourhood of Sabra, (notorious for the 1982 massacres) I found myself making my way through a labyrinth of bombed out concrete buildings where families lived, and children were born and raised. Open sewage, garbage, intermittent electricity, cars lay scattered about, the remnants of bomb blasts of the past. Despite the daily struggle of life, life continued for the thousands who still live there. Many unemployed and destitute, but the spirit and strength of adults and children alike was incredulous, not only offering to share what food or drink they had but also offering warmth and friendship.
