Rania Matar: Women of Islam

Image © Rania Matar-All Rights Reserved
Rania Matar was born and raised in Lebanon, and studied at the AUB and Cornell University. She studied photography at the New England School of Photography and at the Maine Photographic Workshops in Mexico with Magnum photographer Constantine Manos.

She travels widely in the Middle East photographs street scenes in Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, and focuses mainly on women and children in the Middle East, and her recent projects give a voice to people who have been forgotten or misunderstood. Her work has won several awards, and has been published and exhibited widely in the United States and internationally.

I was particularly moved by her Women of Islam photographs because, as she writes in her biography, it gives a voice to those who are misunderstood.

Rania Mattar's Women of Islam

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Tyler Hicks: POYi Award

Image Copyright Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
I'm glad that New York Times' photographer Tyler Hicks got the POYi's Newspaper Photographer Of The Year award. His photography is superlative and incisive. His images of last summer's war in the Lebanon (as the one above of Lebanese women at a hospital with their children after their village was destroyed) brought the conflict to life on the NYT's pages.

This award is apt recognition of Hicks' professional integrity which came under attack from agenda-driven bloggers because of his work in the Lebanon.

More photographs from Hicks' of the Israel/Lebanon conflict are here: POYi

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World Press Photo 2007 Follow Up

Readers of TTP may remember my post of February 13, 2007 in which I offer my opinion on Spencer Platt's photograph of Lebanese youths cruising in a bombed Shia neighborhood of Beirut, and which was awarded first place by the World Press Photo 2007.

Well, it seems that these Lebanese youths have now been interviewed by a freelance journalist, and they certainly appear to be defensive about how their appearance in the photograph was interpreted by the rest of the world. Naturally, they profess that their driving in a convertible car in glamorous clothes was grossly misconstrued.

Here's their explanation as to the reason why they were dressed as they were:

"Hey, we're Lebanese," says Noor. "It's not like we dressed up like this to go visit the Dahiye. We dress like this every day. On any other day, nobody would have given us a second glance. It was the contrast with the destruction in the background that made the difference." There is something the world needs to understand about Lebanon, adds El Khalil. "Glamour is a very important part of life here. It transcends class. Even if you're poor, you want to look glamorous."

"Even when you're poor, you want to look glamorous". What a moronic statement. Has it occurred to these zombies that a lot of their compatriots died in the Israeli attacks?

Here's the full text of the article via PDN

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World Press Photo 2007

Image Copyright 2006 Spencer Platt (Getty Images)

The World Press Photo in Holland announced its 2007 winners, and Spencer Platt deservedly takes first place with his picture of a group of young Lebanese driving through a South Beirut neighborhood devastated by Israeli bombings. The picture was taken on 15 August 2006, the first day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah when thousands of Lebanese started returning to their homes.

To me, this picture is the epitome of what photojournalism ought to be. A single picture says it all. The image of wealthy privileged Lebanese cruising a devastated neighborhood in South Beirut (aka a poor Shia neighborhood) says it all about the 'two' Lebanons. There's the privileged, moneyed, Western-leaning and (usually Maronite Christian) minority on one side and the downtrodden, poor, disinfranchised Shia majority which bore the brunt of the Israeli destruction last summer on the other. It's the classic tale of a divided nation where the minority elitist class govern, while the majority have little say in their country's future and their own economic advancement.

Just look at the picture: The women are in revealing dresses; one is holding a handkerchief to her nose (to protect her from the stench of death and destruction, or was she just blowing her nose?) and the other is blithely taking pictures on her cell phone. Are these young people going to volunteer to help fellow Lebanese who've been wounded and killed in the bombings? Are they going to donate blood? Are they going to donate funds to help those who are homeless? I just don't think so. To me, these people are on a sightseeing drive through devastated neighborhoods, and will return with their stories and cell phone images to show their friends while wasting their nights away in Beirut's nightspots. If I'm right, then what a despicable behavior!

To me, this picture foretells the future of the Lebanon.

World Press Photo's website

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