The year has been difficult for Lebanon with war and destruction engulfing the Mediterranean country. Known for its capital Beirut and its beautiful mountains and Roman ruins, the country suddenly has found itself embroiled in the Israel-Palestine crisis. First came the pager blasts of September 17, followed by images of exploding buildings and of the dead and the injured. However, in the world of photographer Ihab Fayad, the Israeli bombing raids are nowhere to be seen. His work gives a hint of the violence unfolding all around but the war and its difficulties are nowhere to be seen.
Fayad focuses on the 150,000 hectares of land on Mount Lebanon that hosts some of the most ancient olive groves in the world. They produce exquisite olive oil that is a symbol of national identity and pride. However, this year, the region has suffered as around 40,000 olive trees were destroyed in the Israeli attacks. In his photographs, Fayad shows how olive grove owners harvest the fruits carefully covering them in white cotton fabric and choosing the most succulent olives to be driven in battered 1980s taxis to the olive mills.
Ihab Fayad’s photographs of the olive groves of Lebanon.
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Ihab Fayad
His photographs show a tradition that has been a part of the region for nearly 5,000 years. War and violence may come and go but the glorious Lebanese tradition of making olive oil has continued uninterrupted. Fayad, who received an honourable mention in the recent Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) in Dubai, is part of an emerging tradition of photography in the Arab world — reinterpreting itself by often looking away from the war and violence that has been the defining feature of imagery from the region.
Lebanese photographer Ihab Fayad
Starting with the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s and the Gulf war of 1990-91, the primary images from the West Asian region have been associated with violence, terror attack and human tragedy, but this year at HIPA, a large number of entries and award winners provided a different way to look at the region, stretching from Palestine and Lebanon to Saudi Arabia and Oman. This alternative view of the geopolitical fulcrum of West Asia was also seen in the work of Duhain Abdulhaim. His canvas is the Saudi Arabian desert and Saudi history and identity. The kingdom is the home of Islam and it is also a hydrocarbon powerhouse driving the world economy — these two have therefore been the primary lenses used to view Saudi Arabia. But Abdulhaim takes his lens to the vast desert and the ancient, mysterious stone mustatils that have added a supernatural air to the arid landscape.
These stone mustatils are vast geometric formations found in the Arabian desert. These deserts were considered to be empty, contributing to the name Rub El Khali – empty quarters. The photographer shows that the deserts are not khali or empty but in fact are home to the mysterious mustatils. Among all the mustatils, ‘the face’ remains the most interesting. Abdulhaim with his images shows that the empty deserts of Saudi Arabia might have hosted an ancient human civilisation whose roots remain unknown.
One of Samy Al Olabi’s “breathtaking images of celestial objects and nature photography, particularly in the dark skies of the Arabian Peninsula”.
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Samy Al Olabi
A similar attempt was made by Samy Al Olabi, winner of the HIPA Photographer of the Year Award. A Syrian by birth, Al Olabi was educated in Cairo and came to work in the United Arab Emirates. It was while dealing with the stress of his profession that he took to photography — in fact, astrophotography — which captures the stunning night sky over the Arabian peninsula.
Syria’s Samy Al Olabi who won the $80,000 Photographer of the Year Award.
From the sky to the mountains, Al Olabi has been prolific in covering the natural beauty of the Arab world that is often overtaken by the mainstream media’s focus on military campaigns and conflicts. In his camera, the grey, barren mountains turn green after being sprinkled by rain and he shows that the stereotypes of mass media are not necessarily the reality of the Arab world.
Indian photographer Rahul Sachdev’s ‘Resilience’, which won the $40,000 first prize in the colour category at HIPA 2024.
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Rahul Sachdev
This year, HIPA also witnessed notable participation from Indian photographers, often self-taught, across the world. Rahul Sachdev of Pune, who takes high-end tourists on international holidays, won the first prize in colour photography for capturing a southern white rhino in Kenya in the morning light, turning it into a mythical beast.
But the high point of HIPA this year was the work by West Asian photographers steeped in the traditions and ethos of the region. The photography content creator award winner Salma Ali Alsuwaidi stood out with her captivating shots. A Bedouin, Alsuwaidi maintains strict purdah, but her expressive eyes reflected her emotions as she spoke about her struggles overcoming both social restrictions and a physical handicap to become a nature photographer. She captures the birds of the U.A.E., but her expertise extends beyond photography.
Photos by U.A.E.’s Salma Ali Alsuwaidi who won the $50,000 Photography Content Creator Award “for her pioneering work documenting the wildlife and bird species of the UAE”.
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Salma Ali Alsuwaidi
She has authored and photographed the book Common Birds and Their Nests in the United Arab Emirates, a project which took her 14 years to complete. Alsuwaidi travelled across all the seven emirates, traversing challenging terrain, to photograph and study bird species in their natural habitats. “Wildlife photography is simple yet challenging; its subjects refuse to perform on cue, resulting in authentic and honest images. My years of work have deepened my interest in these mostly peaceful creatures, driving me to research and provide scientific reference material for enthusiasts, thereby adding documentary value to my artistic endeavours,” she says.
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Published – November 28, 2024 03:02 pm IST
The Hindu Sunday Magazine
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photography
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history
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history and culture
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war
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unrest, conflicts and war
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Israel-Palestine Conflict
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Palestine
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Syria
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Saudi Arabia
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Lebanon
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nature
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nature and wildlife
