Beirut Photography - M1key - Michal Huniewicz

Beirut by Michal Huniewicz

"[T]he Middle East. I lived there 12 years, which means I know almost nothing. Ask a tourist who's been there three weeks - they know everything." -- William G. Dever, archaeologist. [7]

Welcome to... Africa? The Lebanese have forever been engaged in a discussion whether they are Arabs or not ("we are IN the Middle East, but not OUT OF the Middle East"). It may sound silly, but it turns out that the Bekaa Valley does not just divide Lebanon from Syria - in fact, the country isn't part of Arabia. Geologically, it's part of Africa! [4] So who are they, damn it?

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33.
Uploaded on: 2017-10-28.

Beirut, Lebanon

Welcome to Beirut

Welcome to Beirut
This is Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, one of the legendary Levant cities, a meeting point visited by Ramesses II, Nebuchadnezzar II, Napoleon III across the millennia. [28]
It's our turn now.
ISO 100, 4mm, f/2.8, 1/160s.

Nejmeh Square

Nejmeh Square
It's a well-known cliché that Beirut is the Paris of the Middle East. Well, there's at least some truth to it (although the two cities aren't twinned). This square, the Nejmeh Square, is from 1930s, and was supposedly inspired by the Place de l'Étoile in Paris. [1] The clock tower is famous for showing a different time on each of its four faces.
ISO 2500, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.

St. George Maronite Cathedral

St. George Maronite Cathedral
Lebanon is the most Christian of all the Middle Eastern countries - although, like in Kosovo, the Muslims (54%) managed to have enough children to outnumber the Christians (40%). The very setup of the country depends on that balance - there is an unwritten agreement that the President of the country will be a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker for the Parliament will be a Shi'a.
In the photo, my friend Luca in front of the St. George Maronite Cathedral.
ISO 500, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.

Cathedral

Cathedral
The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Pope and the Catholic Church but also with self-governance. It's part of the Syrian Christianity, and only a little over 3 million people subscribe to this faith, most of whom live in Lebanon, but there are some in Syria, Cyprus, Israel, and Jordan. [31]
The cathedral stands proud after it was damaged and plundered and defaced during the Lebanese civil war.
ISO 1600, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Mohammad al-Amin

Mohammad al-Amin
Although a majority, the Muslims, as usual, divide themselves into Sunni and Shiia (and smaller sects), and the conflict between them almost pushed the country into a new civil war about a decade ago. This Hagia Sophia-inspired mosque is a Sunni one, and with its 72-metre tall minarets it was built to dominate over the Christian cathedral we just saw. [2]
But the Christians said - oh no you won't! And they built a tower from which this photo was taken. It's 75 metres tall.
ISO 1600, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.

From the Tower

From the Tower
The tower offers some cool views.
The Sunni and Shiia differ in many ways (although not theologically), and here's one: Sunni girls can get married when they are 17, whereas Shiia can get married when they're 9! [24] Perhaps that's to reflect the age of Aisha when her marriage with Prophet Mohammed was consummated.
ISO 12800, 60mm, f/2.8, 1/80s.

Roman Baths

Roman Baths
These are Roman baths inside what used to be the city of Berytus. They were a meeting place for all citizens, and Berytus itself was the capital of Phoenicia during Roman times. [19] [20] That was Roman Phoenicia that superseded the original Phoenicia - an ancient Semitic civilisation that gave us the Phoenician alphabet as well as Carthage. [18] That's the oldest verified alphabet, derived from hieroglyphs, and the ancestor of Arabic, Greek, Latin, Cyrillic, Runic, and Coptic alphabets. [19]
ISO 7200, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/80s.

Al-Omari Grand Mosque

Al-Omari Grand Mosque
The rivalry between creeds, as we know all too well, isn't new.
Here's Al-Omari Grand Mosque. Well, it's a mosque now. Originally, it was a church: the Crusader Church of Saint John, and the Crusaders didn't exactly come in peace either.
The fate of temples is often interesting - this Bulgarian mosque has become a museum.
ISO 1800, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.

Monument for Peace

Monument for Peace
Speaking of peace. The Lebanese Civil War lasted 15 years, and only ended in 1990, once huge parts of the city had been obliterated (not an uncommon occurrence in the history of Beirut, which has many a time risen from the ashes like phoenix - the word itself is meant to come from Phoenician anyway [33]). It was a complex conflict that involved the usual suspects: Hezbollah, PLO, Syria, the US, Israel, and even the Italians, world's least likely belligerents these days, I suppose. And a bunch of other countries. [3]
In 1995, this monument was built, and it's called Hope for Peace. Those are actual tanks, mortars, heavy artillery and APCs, and the monument is 30 metres tall. [4] Today, the area doesn't make a particularly peaceful impression, as it's peppered with barbed wire, soldiers, check points - that's because several embassies are located here.
ISO 200, 23mm, f/10.0, 1/105s.

Hezbollah Neighbourhood

Hezbollah Neighbourhood
Conflict in Southern Lebanon resulted in the emergence of Hezbollah, literally the Party of God - a Shi'a Islamist militant group and political party; in many ways, a state within a state. Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy for the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict after Israel occupied South Lebanon. They have since withdrawn, but Hezbollah goes on with their Anti-West and Anti-Zionist agenda, and their army is considered more powerful than the actual army of Lebanon.
Here's a Hezbollah-controlled neighbourhood in Beirut. They control huge parts of the country, and the British government has an advice for you - don't go there. [5]
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/1250s.

Hezbollah Flag

Hezbollah Flag
What if you do go... Contrast the pleasant, peaceful-looking Lebanese flag (next photo) with this - the symbol of Hezbollah. Where Saudi Arabia chose a sword, Hezbollah actually incorporated the grandpa that has just celebrated its 70th birthday - an AK-47. One can be relevant even in their 70s! The goal of Hezbollah now is a complete elimination of Israel. [8]
What they have to say is the same we heard from Hitler and throughout European history, or from Hitler's buddy Haj Amin al-Husseini: that the Jews are the "'enemies of mankind', 'conspiratorial, obstinate, and conceited' adversaries full of 'satanic plans' to enslave the Arabs". [8]
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Lebanon Flag

Lebanon Flag
Lebanon Cedar is the tree that decorates the Lebanese flag. "It's mentioned in the Bible!", people proudly say. "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon". [11]
Look at these walls. They are quite common in Beirut, and their role is to protect from car bombs. It's interesting that the Wikipedia says "in the 20th century, with the development of maneuverable tanks and aerial warfare during and after the First World War, fixed fortifications became and have remained less important than in previous centuries." [12], and yet here we have this. It seems that terrorism (as opposed to classical warfare) has in some ways brought the old ways back.
However, those famous trees themselves have always fallen victim to greedy rulers - even the Epic of Gilgamesh mentions the destruction of Lebanese forests in order to build the city of Uruk (the first true city in the world! [10]). So did the Phoenicians, the Jews (in the past and more recently through an air raid), the Egyptians. It was only Emperor Hadrian who halted the chopping down of the trees (as well as that of... foreskins [25]). Regardless, there are more Lebanese cedars in England than there are in Lebanon. [24]
ISO 1600, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/50s.

Meat

Meat
Which is not to say that peaceful Lebanon uniformly frowns upon Hezbollah. President Michel Aoun said "As long as the Lebanese army is not strong enough to battle Israel … we feel the need for its [Hezbullah’s] existence". [13] Meanwhile, not only the US, France, or the EU consider Hezbollah a terrorist organisation - the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council do too. [14]
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/105s.

UN Tower

UN Tower
What about the UN? The UN says "The clear path forward was by disarming and disbanding Hizbollah and other militias, as well as by Lebanon’s exercise of authority over all its territory." See Resolution 1701. [15]
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/400s.

Hezbollah Base

Hezbollah Base
My main observation from Lebanon is - it's so tough to gauge the risk. Even local people give you inconsistent information. Is it safe to visit those Hezbollah areas or not? What about the recent Syrian refugee camps? That's fine, I'll tell you what I know about visiting these sort of places in Lebanon.
In the photo, a building I was told was a Hezbollah military base. The sign says mosque.
ISO 500, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Shatila

Shatila
On the surface, this is a typical Middle Eastern slum. This one is in fact a Palestinian refugee camp - called Shatila. We imagine these camps to be tents, but in fact they are densely built, packed with precarious buildings. Israelis get a lot of flak for this, but the fact is that Arab governments have done next to nothing to help those people integrate, so they live in such shabby areas all over the Middle East, being second class citizens without a real chance to get out.
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/750s.

Young Man

Young Man
According to Aljazeera, you can own property in Lebanon if you have a Western passport. If you're Palestinian, you cannot. Because there are laws protecting the Lebanese from losing jobs to the Palestinians, the Palestinians have virtually zero opportunities to start a normal life. [16]
ISO 1250, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Stalls

Stalls
That's where, in my opinion (and I could be wrong), the tragedy of the Palestinians lies. Israel doesn't want them as the Israelis don't want to be a minority in their own country. Arab countries don't want them because it's useful to use them as a distraction from domestic problems.
ISO 400, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Child Labour

Child Labour
Since the eruption of the Syrian Civil War, this camp has swollen with Syrian refugees. [6] I was told there was no point in asking if they were Palestinian or Syrian - they would all claim to be Syrian, because they believe people from the West care about the Syrians more. "They will be whoever you want them to be".
ISO 1600, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/50s.

Child Play

Child Play
Some children work so some children can play.
No one wanted to take us to Shatila, and I did not think it was sensible to go alone. I was right. Eventually, I recruited a driver that was stood outside of our hotel, and he would make sure we were safe. The man was terrified most of the time, and then we pushed him further outside of his comfort zone, which eventually led to him losing any trust in our sanity and to his excessive cautiousness. I'd say, don't make that mistake.
ISO 800, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Barber

Barber
Why was it a good idea to have someone local with us? Within (literally) seconds, we were intercepted by a young guy with a gun. From what I have heard, if you don't speak Arabic and there's no one to do the talking for you, you'll be possibly detained at that point, and interrogated to make sure you're not an Israeli spy.
He would not be photographed, but I took a shot of his friends here. He jokingly put the gun to the head of the one in the middle. What's the last time that went wrong!
ISO 320, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Children

Children
For best results, we recommend the indoctrination starts early!
ISO 320, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Rubbish

Rubbish
One has to feel sorry for the ordinary people trapped in the nonsense of religion- and politics-inspired wars. Or any war for that matter.
Fred Maroun, a Canadian of Arab origin who lived in Lebanon until 1984, reminds us that "in Lebanon, simply communicating with an Israeli can land a person in jail". [9]
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/480s.

Disabled

Disabled
Due to the lack of heathcare, some scenes in those camps look like taken from a medieval painting.
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/170s.

Old Man

Old Man
Some people glared at us suspiciously. It felt so different from the comparatively cheerful and optimistic slum of Kibera in Nairobi, where people behaved like it was just a stepping stone toward a better future having moved from the countryside.
ISO 1250, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Square

Square
In Shatila, like in a first-person shooter video game, you run into men with AK-47s, right next to you or distant silhouettes, but we were specifically told not to take photos of them. Some looked menacing, others were overweight and bored, not looking at anything in particular.
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/170s.

Sabra and Shatila Massacre

Sabra and Shatila Massacre
In 1982, between 762 and 3,500 civilians were butchered here by Phalanage, a Christian Lebanese right-wing party militia in an event that is now known as the Sabra and Shatila massacre. The UN blamed this on Israel, as they were the occupying power of the camp and failed to stop the massacre, which was confirmed by the Israeli Kahan Commission. [29]
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/950s.

Rain

Rain
Crap weather completed the aura of hopelessness.
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Lahm Bi Ajeen

Lahm Bi Ajeen
You could hide from the rain though, as people were quite welcoming, if somewhat sceptical. This is lahm bi ajeen, or spiced lamp flat bread.
ISO 800, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Icons

Icons
This guy, for instance, was thrilled to see us. Later, in Colombia, I would meet people buying this sort of religious memorabilia when travelling abroad, as to them it represented the taste among the ordinary people of that particular nation.
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/300s.

Dog

Dog
Dog
The mute witnesses of human mess, animals, suffer too, victims of our selfishness and ignorance, and it was heartbreaking for me to see this dog yearning for some human attention.
ISO 1600, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Power Station

Power Station
This makeshift-turned-permanent power station provides energy for Shatila, and the fans and open doors are here as its cooling mechanism.
ISO 1600, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/50s.

Car

Car
Car
It was almost surreal to see this elegant car squeezing through the narrow streets of Shatila, and a timid child staring through the window.
ISO 320, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Under an Umbrella

Under an Umbrella
Everyone else slalomed between the puddles and rubbish.
ISO 320, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas
We almost forgot it was Christmas.
ISO 500, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Healthy

Healthy
Of course, a completely different Beirut exists, too.
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/70s.

Go

Go
Go
Both here as well as in Sarajevo, I felt somewhat guilty taking war- or conflict-related photos, but I think it's important to try to show a balanced picture.
ISO 1600, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/30s.

Playing in a Mosque

Playing in a Mosque
All of this could be good news for Lebanon after all. To quote Orson Welles, "You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." [10]
ISO 2000, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.

Couple Holding Hands

Couple Holding Hands
This has got to be the first time I saw a couple holding hands in the Middle East! Men in those countries hold hands all the time as a sign of friendship...
ISO 2200, 60mm, f/2.8, 1/80s.

Reaching to the Sky

Reaching to the Sky
This is the Corniche - Beirut's seaside promenade, where cool people hang out, so not necessarily my natural habitat.
ISO 100, 32mm, f/2.8, 1/500s.

Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea
I caught this... I don't know, Biblical-scale almost storm.
ISO 100, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1250s.

Kartik

Kartik
My friend Kartik and my other camera are so photogenic together that they can be reliably deployed anywhere to produce nice-looking images.
ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.4, 1/250s.

Kartik 2

Kartik 2
See?
ISO 180, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/80s.

Bookstore

Bookstore
In downtown Lebanon, I found this cute bookstore. The man could speak excellent English, and offered foreign as well as local literature.
ISO 800, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/60s.

Books

Books
Different kind of books.
ISO 2500, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.

Minaret

Minaret
A minaret and some sort of Christian facility in one. Ste George's Cathedral in Tripoli (not to be confused with a Libyan city of the same name) is sometimes mentioned as a proof of Muslim/Christian Convivencia in Lebanon, as it had a balcony reserved for the Muslims wishing to observe Easter ceremonies. [23]
ISO 200, 23mm, f/8.0, 1/350s.

Our Lady of Lebanon

Our Lady of Lebanon
In Harissa, we visited Our Lady of Lebanon - it's a Maronite shrine and a pilgrimage site. That's another French-made thing. In 1954, the 50th jubilee of its creation was also the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception. [17] I find it quite insane that this basic Catholic dogma took almost 2000 years to actually get officially approved!
ISO 100, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1600s.

Brutal

Brutal
A pile of concrete and glass forming a Brutalist Maronite cathedral stands nearby.
ISO 100, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/800s.

Abraj Al Bait

Abraj Al Bait
I am not entirely sure whether this is a sign of reverence or the exact opposite - it's difficult not to notice that this perfume bottle is stylised after Abraj Al Bait, or Makkah Royal Clock Tower to be more precise, the largest clock face in the world, although only Muslims can gaze upon it, since it's in Mecca where infidels are not at all welcome. Those perfumes in Lebanon had a very special and pleasing fragrant about them.
The Saudis built the tower having destroyed the Ottoman citadel that stood there previously, predictably pissing the Turks off. [21]
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.0, 1/140s.

Ferris Wheel

Ferris Wheel
The generally low-rated [22] ferris wheel a blogger referred as the most dangerous place in town. [23]
In the poster, Saad Al-Hariri, a Lebanese politician, former Primer Minister. His name means something like "sweet silky" (aww!), but the names of some of the Lebanese politicians are just hilarious when translated into English: Victorious Jelly Fish, Lantern the Hunchback, Doesn't Care About Others. [23]
ISO 100, 62mm, f/2.8, 1/1000s.

Family on the Coast

Family on the Coast
According to some [23], St. George killed the Dragon here, in Beirut. Others say it was in Libya. [26] Or that it's just a legend.
ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.4, 1/800s.

Sport Club

Sport Club
Elegant adds contrast with fairly decrepit buildings.
ISO 100, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/640s.

Local Girl

Local Girl
Beirut was the first city to have a school for girls in all of Ottoman Empire. [23] Before women could get a job, one of the few things they could do to earn money was being... professional mourners.
Look at this girl's purple scarf. (It's purple, right? I need a woman to help with this one - ha ha.) It's this part of the world (under the Phoenicians) that gave us the royal purple colour that was so expensive and rare that it was used by the VIPs of the Roman or Byzantine era. In fact, this dye, known as murex, is the poop of a sea snail. [27] The Phoenicians weren't the only ones to get the idea - ancient Mexicans did the same.
ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.4, 1/125s.

Sunset

Sunset
We imagine oases as sources of freshwater amidst cruel sands of a desert. That's not wrong. But in Lebanon, there are freshwater springs in... the sea itself! That's right, you can (and people have been) obtain drinking water directly from the sea if you know where to look, in the vicinity of Beirut. [23]
ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.4, 1/2000s.

Inside the Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque

Inside the Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque
This mosque has superseded an earlier Zawiya (prayer corner/madrasa), and while it was being built, Roman ruins were uncovered. [30]
ISO 2000, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.

Ablaq

Ablaq
This is monumental Ottoman architecture.
ISO 1250, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.

Grille

Grille
I think that this is a gift from Sultan Abdul Hamid II to Beirut which encircles a shrine for John the Baptist. [32]
ISO 1100, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.

Whiskey

Whiskey
And then Kartik generously offered to get us some whiskey. I said yes. Later, he made a tragic, high-pitched sound when he realised how much each glass was (something like $60, the most expensive drink in my life).
ISO 360, 50mm, f/1.4, 1/50s.

Mediterranean

Mediterranean
The majestic Mediterranean.
ISO 100, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/2500s.

Toward the Sea

Toward the Sea
Shabby buildings near the sea.
ISO 200, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/750s.

Downtown

Downtown
But there's another reason to visit Beirut still. It is famous for plastic surgery, and there are dozens of registered plastic surgeons as well as many more unofficial ones. If you're a woman you can become a reborn virgin - hymenoplasty supposedly costs $300-$3000, but the most popular procedure is rhinoplasty, meaning nose job. Quite popular is also gender change, albeit not as popular as it is in Tehran where homosexuals are under pressure from the state to surgically change their gender.
ISO 320, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.

Poof!

Poof!
The bag in which we carried our drone seriously freaked some people out, and many more still asked what it was. Soldiers would sometimes gesture and have us open it. I am not sure if all of them understood what our drone was, but they understood it wasn't a bomb.
ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.4, 1/200s.

Goodbye Beirut

Goodbye Beirut
One of Lebanon's claim to fame is that you can go swimming in the morning and skiing in the afternoon due to the proximity of the sea and the mountains. In fact, the mountains of Lebanon used to provide ice for chilled drinks for the Pharaohs and Sultans!
That's it for now, but wait, there's more. I will soon upload more photos from Lebanon - this time not focused on Beirut.
ISO 110, 4mm, f/2.8, 1/100s.