As a teenager in Beirut during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Akram Zaatari photographed scenes of war damage and kept the resulting prints in a small souvenir photo album.

Twenty-four of the images are of explosions and war damage in Saida, for example from an air raid targeting a Palestinian base on Mar Elias Hill. The remaining ten images are of scenes in Beirut, mainly of the damage to the Unesco building. In 2003 Zaatari used some of these photographs in the construction of a large panorama, June 6, 1982. In 2007 he returned again to his childhood work: he photographed the pages of the album itself, re-presenting the original object as a personal archive, 25 years after its creation. Presented by the Art Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Provenance

The artist.


Back to top