Tuesday , 05 March 2013
“This is Beirut for me. It’s full of texture; It’s not clean,” says photographer Mokhtar Beyrouth, who chose to go by this name for his art. “Some places are clean, but it’s full of history dirt. There are stories inside every building; inside every mind.”
“We inherit these from our parents and our grandparents,” he continues. “It’s a charged history. It’s not a peacefully history, and this is what makes it exotic because everyone comes from a different background; a different religion.”
Beyrouth is in his final year of studying communication arts at Université Saint-Joseph. He grew up in a neighborhood of Beirut close to the Phoenicia Hotel, and comes from an artistic family.
Even though he went to a private school, Beyrouth did not have an opportunity to pursue art until university. If he had been exposed to the arts and photography in secondary school “I would have discovered my skills earlier,” he says. “I don’t regret it, but I wish I had done what I’ve done now at the age of 19.”
For the past two years Beyrouth has been working in the field of conceptual male photography. He mainly shoots portrait and fashion photography and has exhibited at Café de Prague in Hamra, the Ministry of Tourism and downtown as part of an exhibition for Act for the Disappeared, a Lebanese organization that is addressing the issue of disappeared persons from the Civil War to the present.
“Conceptual photography, for me, is about telling a story,” Beyrouth says. “When I shoot a series it’s more like a film for me. It’s based on a message.” The idea is to portray a character and not to just shoot a model in front of the camera, he adds. “It’s a part of. creating… a story that doesn’t exist.”
“My specialty is male photography,” Beyrouth continues, “because the work I do is to show the emotional side of people and to show the sensual side, not in a cheap way, but in a very artistic way.”
People are initially afraid to get involved in male photography, Beyrouth says, because of the potential implications or consequences in a conservative society like Lebanon. “You can’t say Lebanese society is open minded. You can say Hamra is open minded, or AUB is open minded or this circle of friends,” he continues. “We live in a conservative city as much as we say it is open minded and the Paris of the Middle East.”
“A lot of people come and ask me, especially people not living in Lebanon or the Middle East… if this was shot in Lebanon or if these models are Arab,” Beyrouth says. “I get a lot of comments like this because my photography shows a different side of the Arab male model, or the Arab male in general.”
“I think everyone sees the Arab figure as a terrorist,” Beyrouth continues. “I really want to change the idea of having the male Arab as a terrorist.”
So far, the reaction to Beyrouth’s work has been overwhelmingly positive. He has been on TV six times talking about the type of photography he does. “People are excited about it,” he says. “I thought people would be against it, but actually people are getting the sense of the portraits.”
The facts that the portraits are telling a story helps with their reception, Beyrouth thinks. “It’s not just about the male abs or… eyes. It’s more about the message,” he says. “It’s intriguing for people, this kind of photography.”
Beyrouth has not been shooting as much personal work over the past year. Instead, he has been finishing up his studies and working on commercial projects, which is where it is easier to make money as a photographer.
“What I want is to shoot more male photography; show more beautiful faces in Lebanon because we have so many beautiful faces. I want to highlight that.” Beyrouth says. “For me, beautiful is something that doesn’t have to be perfect… these flaws make someone a character,” he adds. “The challenge is to photograph these people in a way that their flaws are completing them.”
“I want to put more people into the Lebanese set… to show something urban or natural in Lebanon,” Beyrouth continues. His hope is to highlight the city through the people living in it.
In order to highlight the city, Beyrouth has shot in some of the many abandoned buildings scattered around Beirut. Sometimes it is difficult to shoot in these locations because people living in the neighborhood may be skeptical about the presence of a photographer and outsider to the community. However, the buildings are appealing because they have lots of textures and layers, such as the effects and aftermath of the Civil War.
Photographers using abandoned buildings as a setting for their photographs have helped draw attention to the demolition of Beirut’s architectural heritage, Beyrouth says. “A decade ago there was not much attention about the old buildings… now people are more conscious and aware of these historic buildings and that they have a meaning.”
Even so, Beyrouth does not consider Beirut to be a capital of culture in the region. “It’s not artsy enough for me,” he says. “We are getting there, but it’s not enough.”
“There is a lot of competition and a lot of jealousy around artists,” Beyrouth continues. “If you are a photographer and I’m a photographer I would hate that you do photography too, for example.”
Beyrouth sees this sense of competition as unnecessary. “Each and everyone of us has a different point of view of the world, so you can’t take the same picture,” he argues.
The shortcomings of the cultural scene in Beirut are not because of the city, Beyrouth says. “We are retarded artistically because of the people, not because Beirut doesn’t allow us.”
Another issue is the isolation of the cultural scene in Lebanon. “You get appreciated in your circle, but you don’t get appreciated a lot in the society,” Beyrouth says. “We are getting there. I think we are on the way, but I think we need 10 more years to get to what Istanbul can offer, for example.”
Compared to Istanbul, Beirut does not have as much space for art. “It’s not just about art galleries. It’s about space,” he elaborates. “The infrastructure of the city is different.”
“When I entered the art scene three or four years ago it was different,” Beyrouth continues. “There were not as many events or exhibitions, which is good now. People are getting into it. They are really getting involved.”
The raw materials for a good art scene exist in Lebanon, but there is something in the mentality of the people that prevents it, Beyrouth says. “What we need is good intentions, or to have an open mind for competition, not to be jealous. It comes from the personal stuff.”
“Sorry Lebanon. I mean, I’m just speaking the truth,” from his perspective, he adds.
You can find more of Beyrouth’s work at his website: www.mokhtarbeyrouth.com.
Eric Reidy is a project assistant at the SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom researching and writing about the cultural scene in Beirut. This article is part of a regular interview series with artists living, working, and creating in Beirut.
Previous Articles:
· “Beirut has a special magic”: An interview with Syrian artist Gylan Safadi
· “Our culture is dying”: An interview with Mohamad Hodeib
· “It’s a place for music… Beirut”: An interview with Bilad El-Sham
· “Culture has been put on the side”: An interview with Dima Mabsout
. “Everyone is leaving. I’m coming here”: An interview with Omar Sabbagh