Beirut: War generated surrealistic photography tourism

A work of art that captures a missile hitting a building in Beirut, Lebanon and exploding, composed by visual artist Bilal B. 

By Bilal B.

BEIRUT: The sight of thousands of displaced Lebanese families returning to their homes and trying to pick up their lives after weeks of incessant bombardment was mesmerizing.

They were coming to ruined areas offering an eerie sight with homes levelled with the ground, buildings cleaved in half, cars and other possessions crushed.

These buildings, with their material, sentimental and emotional significance, were just before the cease-fire the focus of a mass drive by photographers seeking to take pictures of heavy bombs destroying life.

With Tourism rapidly asserting itself as a major economic sector in a globalizing world, there has been a growing rivalry involving strategies to get a competitive edge in the increasingly fierce race to attract visitors.

Several experts have emphasized the importance of motivating photographers with unique shots that reflect the distinctiveness and exceptionalities of a country.

Photographers, in their quest for exclusivities, are always on the move, hopping from one place to the another in search of incredible scenes, not only to capture rare sights or unrepeatable moments, but also to showcase their talent and aptitudes on the world stage.

In this context, Lebanon, and specifically Beirut, its capital and largest city, stood out during the war as an unconventional “tourism” destination that offered an experience unparalleled in the world.

Photographers could take pictures of live bombs falling on buildings, live explosions, projectiles overhead, bombed buildings!

Here, in this small country on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, home to one of the earliest advanced and knowledgeable civilizations in the world, photographers were able to witness through their lens destruction, devastation, demolition, obliteration …

And they did not have to search or wait. Professional and amateur photographers, as well as residents, received clear invitations, with precise details about the building or buildings that would be bombed by the aircraft of the “most moral army in the world”, as it has always claimed, but did not live up to it.

An army that alleges it respects the ant (the small) before the elephant (the large), but crushes them both without hesitation or regret. An army that toys with lives and plays with livelihoods and unashamedly displays its disdain to the world.

Therefore, the attacks were carefully planned to provide a golden opportunity for photographers to capture the moment in all its dramatic dimensions.

The buildings that were bombed were not just impersonal, soulless, silent blocks of concrete.

They were once the repository of dreams and ambitions woven around them by people who built their lives between their walls, spent years constructing them with love and care, and associated their memories and hopes with their seams.

The recent war made them the sorrowful stage for a new art, where there was no room for emotion, no time for sentiments, no recollection of golden days. What mattered was the scene, the moment, and the picture.

It was ironic to watch videos of buildings collapsing in a matter of seconds, as if we were watching a scene of a movie produced at huge costs.

The only difference? Here, there were no visual effects or cinematic tricks. Everything was real. What was funny and painful at the same time is that in these cases, the photographer did not have the luxury of reshooting, because if the shot was not satisfactory, the only option was to wait for the next announcement that other buildings would be targeted. Usually, the wait would not be long …

Beirut was a unique destination. A destination that welcomed a new kind of “tourism” that no longer offered numerous options of pristine waters, soft and rocky beaches and evergreen and snow-capped mountains. The new war-generated “tourism” offered desolate ruins and excoriating pain.

It was a black comedy that mocked reality and narrates a human tragedy on the ruins of a city that had dreamed of living in peace, a city that had warmly offered everyone serenity in thoughts and solace in emotions.