Beirut photo festival offers analogue experience in digital age
The Beirut Image Festival, in its first year, is providing a forum for young photographers raised on the digital imagery of social media to get a taste of the art of photography by exhibiting their works in venues alongside veteran photographers.
“Everyone has a phone. Everyone sees hundreds of images a day,” Ibrahim Dirani, project manager of the Beirut Image Festival (BIF), told Al-Monitor. “We have integrated this culture, but we don't link it to an image that we stand in front of and really look at.”
BIF, which runs Sept. 5 through Oct. 5 in different locations in Lebanon, seeks to link the art of photography with the culture of the everyday posting of digital imagery online by exhibiting works by established artists and photojournalists alongside those of emerging photographers. The juried show features 600 photos from 122 photographers displayed in more than a dozen venues around the country.
"[While organizing the festival], we expected 250 applicants and about 1,500 photos.… We got 678 applicants and 3,800 photos,” Dirani said, adding that the photographers’ backgrounds and work exhibit great diversity, which is also reflected in the variety of festival venues. “Reaching new communities is really important right now.… We want to reach new audiences and new eyes.”
BIF events are being held in places as different as the ancient city of Baalbek, in the Bekaa Valley, and the seaport metropolis of Tripoli, on the Mediterranean. Festival venues include exhibitions in public spaces, such as along Beirut’s waterfront and at Beirut Souks, in the capital’s central district, but in short, wherever people might go. “[I hope audiences] just go for a coffee and see these photos,” Dirani said.
