On Saturday we took a trip to Saida (Sidon) to see Akram Zaatari's latest project involving the photography of Hashem El Madani, a commercial studio photographer from Saida. Madani opened his Studio Shehrazade in the early 1950s. In addition to studio portraits he also created wonderful portraits of people at their places of work. Forty-one of those that he took in the old district of Saida have been printed, framed and displayed in the original locations or in nearby cafes.
Visitors get a map that locates each photo and provides a thumbnail image of each along with a caption.
[Fragment of the map.]
Having a common purpose for wandering around the old district's narrow streets and to pop into various stores, workshops and cafés created a unique experience. Some shopkeepers kept working after we exchanged greetings, others wanted to point out something from the photo such as the elderly man who kept telling us the guy in the photo is his father. Some of the others following the itinerary took photos of him, while neighbors watching it all teased him affectionately.
I wondered if many of the Lebanese who were following the itinerary had been there before. In a way it seemed like a great method for creating a moment of mixing between Lebanese of different social classes and backgrounds. In addition to calling attention to the history of the area and of the role of studio photography in Saida, of course.
It helped me feel a bit less like the typical tourist. Being part of this mini whirlwind of visitors sweeping through to participate in an art exhibit created a different dynamic. I wasn't there just to look at a place but to participate in some kind of interaction, however brief and ephemeral.
The only drawback was that in such a stimulating environment I couldn't concentrate on the photos much. But perhaps that was as it should be. The text on the map explains: "The Madani Project [of which this project is just one part] takes the archive of Studio Shehrazade as study material to understand the complex relationship which ties a studio photographer to his working space, his equipment and tools, economy and aesthetics, and further explore his ties to his clients, society and the city in general." In this experience we visitors were placed into the actual physical environment and given the tools to imagine Madani out with his camera, taking the photos and building the relationships he needed for his business. On the other side, I was also compelled to wonder about Madani and Zaatari's relationship to the current shopkeepers and owners as they put this project together. What does this all mean to them and the other residents of the old district of Saida?
Below are some photos I took, which show the placement of the photos and the shops' current appearance. Sorry you can't see the original photos, for other work by Madani look into getting one of the excellent books Zaatari has published, such as Mapping Sitting or Hashem el Madani: Studio Practices.
Cobbler's shop. Photo 17 on the itinerary. In 1951, when the photo on the back wall (beyond the mirror) was taken, it was a watch sale and repair shop. The red symbol on the wall is the Arabic letter meem, or m, for Madani I assume. Each shop with a photo inside displays this symbol. This alleyway was my favorite visually, it was covered so many shops spilled out into the alley. Most were cobblers with grand old machines.
Photo 14. This shop is Mohamad Ali el Jardali Nouveauté, but in the early 1950s it was two shops, a calligraphy and paint shop and a place called Nouveauté Barsha.
Photo 3. This textile shop displays a photo that was not taken here originally, but nearby I guess. If you click on the scan of the map above you might be able to make out the thumbnail of the photo that is hung here.
Photo 23 (up from the fan, next to the mirror) shows Wafiq el Baba at the door of his shop Nouveauté el Baba taken in the late 1940s. It is now a barber shop called Salon el Anouar.
Photos 5, 7, 25 and 26 are placed in this café, Beb el Saray Café. The photos show men standing in front of a pharmacy, a tobacco, perfume and spice shop, a sandwich and tobacco kiosk, and two young men standing by a tree in the square. The green fruits on the right are oranges for making fresh juice.
Photo 29. This carpenter's shop was closed by the time we got there. In the early 1950s it was a pastry shop.
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