ثلاثة هواة يجرون مسحا ًفوتوغرافياً لقرى الجنوب .. مجلة فن التصوير اللبنانية _ ع٣٥

Three amateurs conducting a photographic survey of villages in the south

In line with the constant calls to cover the Lebanese regions photographically, and before it is too late, either by the impact of war or by the influence of time, three photographers from the American University of Beirut conducted a photographic survey that included about 180 villages in southern Lebanon, as a first step that will be followed by more advanced similar steps.

We have always called, through the art of photography, to encourage amateurs and practitioners to pay attention to all Lebanese regions, which are in dire need of photographers in order to unearth the dust of the years of war, and thus remind us of the countryside and remote villages, and shed light on their roads, environment, livelihood, and places of antiquities and waters in them.
This is in addition to its natural beauty, and we have constantly asked the officials to adopt these ideas in order to enrich their photographic archives in the first place, and thus encourage clubs and associations to photograph.
Three amateurs - members of the photography club at the American University - headed towards the south, and their mission is to explore the past and record the present.

- Muhammad Zaytoun from Kfartibnit - Nabatiyeh, a second year economics student.
- Qasim Abbas from Zibdin - Nabatiyeh, a third-year civil engineering student.
- And Yasser Al-Hajj from Al-Wardaniyeh - Iqlim Al-Kharroub. A second year civil engineering student.

Three photographers were brought together by the idea, so they experimented and returned with their impressions, knowing that they are all residents of Beirut.
The art of photography - I talked to them about the idea, its birth and its purpose.
The idea has existed - Muhammad says - for a long time, and it took its right to study in an extensive way, and its beginning was with me and my colleague Qasim, as whenever we gathered to study, our subject would be the photographic project on the villages of the south... So we started preparing for the project and studying its financial costs, so we collected maps and developed a methodology for work and determined the period necessary to complete the project.

And Qasim says:
We used to notice things that existed, but suddenly and overnight they disappeared as a result of the events, especially the destruction, as the villages changed their features and the monuments were damaged.
Yasser: The south lacks a lot of topics from a photographic point of view. Photographers and journalists covered the areas from a journalistic and news standpoint. Social life, village sites and antiquities remain a topic of interest that must be covered urgently, especially since we do not know what is happening in terms of events, and the extent of the change that took place as a result of these events from here. We saw the need to create a special archive for the villages and regions of the south. I am originally from the region and do not know anything about the south, and when my colleagues were offered their participation in the project, I agreed without hesitation to what would be assigned to me by spending two months in the south getting to know the reality
This is in addition to the fact that we spent our time during this summer doing useful work with good results on the general level and on the personal level.
Muhammad: We covered 175 villages from the following districts: Sidon, Tyre. Nabatiyeh, Bint Jbeil, and four villages from the district of Marjeyoun. We traveled about 3,500 km by car in two months and in two shifts, and we used to work daily for about 8 hours straight, forgetting until lunch times.
Muhammad continues:
The project was in two parts:
1 - Village locations - general photos -
2- Views, old houses. Mosques, churches and customs.
All of these works were captured in black and white and slides.
So we took about 600 slide photos, and about 1200 black and white photos, all of which were organized in a well-studied archive. As for the cost of the project, it reached about twenty thousand pounds, which was paid by the three of us.

Qassem: Next year, we are thinking of completing the project to include the entire southern region, when the Israeli occupation exits. We currently cover our expenses through the offer of the Ministry of Information. Therefore, we are waiting to obtain more revenues in order to publish a book full of views of the south, bearing in mind that our current topic lacks artistic aesthetics that will work. In our next topic, due to the equipment required for landscape photography, and therefore the time.

Yasser: I would like to raise the issue of harassment. I do not know exactly why the Lebanese photographer remains the subject of skepticism, as long as we have witnessed with our own eyes the extent of interest in foreign photographers on the official and popular levels, bearing in mind that we are doing work with clear goals, while we do not know what foreigners are photographing and what their goals are.. It was The three of us have to explain our project to each objector, which actually wasted half of our time. I say this because we were subjected to harassment, some of which amounted to detention by the people.. bearing in mind that we faced understanding from the mayors who provided us with every assistance.

Muhammad: Regardless of that, we have benefited from the project primarily morally and then financially. Where the expenses were covered by the Ministry of Information, which thankfully purchased a large group of our productions, and this is what encourages us to pursue our project.. Therefore, I extend my thanks and appreciation to the officials of the Ministry of Information in my name and on behalf of my colleagues.

Finally, Muhammad Zaytoun adds - our project also relied on the understanding of officials and the provision of technical, technical or advisory assistance, and without them, we would not have completed our project, and to all of them, thanks ⏹