journalistic and documentary photography
I.no 005
Dec /10
www.sowarmag.com
TM
Issue n0 005 Dec 2010
CONTENTS 06 Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry 28 The Veil 38 Mouneh 52 Souq El-Gomma
CONTRIBUTORS
Editorial Director Hassan Osman Account Manager Maisaa Hamadeh Contributing Editors Eric Keller Jesse Biggs Kevin Wiley Masthead Calligraphy Ali Assi Art Director Christian Clogger www.mynameisclogger.co.uk © Cover Photo Roger Moukarzel Sowar is a journalistic and documentary photography magazine. For advertising or submissions, please email info@sowarmag.com Copyright © Sowar Magazine and Photographers. All rights reserved.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Read our Blog
www.sowarmag.com
4
Barbara Abdeni Massaad Barbara is a culinary artist, a photographer and an author. She is a contributing editor to several international publications and has trained with several renowned chefs. She is a founding member of Slow Food Beirut and Slow Food Italy. Her first book “Man’oushé: Inside the Street Corner Lebanese Bakery,” was published in December 2005. www.barbaramassaad.com Patrick Baz Patrick Baz is a distinguished photojournalist with over 30 years of experience covering the Middle East. He is the Middle East Photo Manager for Agence France-Presse (AFP), where he previously held several positions including AFP Baghdad bureau chief and AFP chief photographer for Israel and the Palestinian territories. patrick.baz@afp.com Jason Larkin While living in Cairo, Jason Larkin forged a successful career working as a documentary photographer in the Middle East & Africa, publishing work in various periodicals throughout Europe and North America. Originally trained as a photojournalist in London, he’s since moved away from the day-to-day aspects of journalism and is now focusing on other, less reported aspects of life in the region. www.jasonlarkin.co.uk Roger Moukarzel Roger Moukarzel is a prominent photographer who began his photography career as a war photojournalist, working with international agencies such as Sygma and Reuters. He has published several books, including “Trait Portrait” and “Wadi Qadisha,” and his personal work has been showcased in more than 15 exhibitions worldwide. Roger currently runs his own studio, Mimime Production, as well as a Press Photo Agency, Toromoro and a stock photography website, White Images in Beirut, Lebanon. www.rogermoukarzel.com sowar : dec/10
Purchase a hard copy version of this issue today!
journalistic and documentary photography
I.no 005
Dec /10
www.sowarmag.com
www.sowarmag.com/buy
5
sowar : dec/10
Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry Photos and commentary: Patrick Baz
For more than 30 years, Patrick Baz has been covering armed conflicts in the Middle East. His latest book, published by Tamyras, is a display of the most vivid and penetrating moments of the Iraq war between 2003 and 2008. The title of the book was coined on the day that Saddam Hussein’s statue was torn down, when in the crowd, some Iraqis wept “Don’t take my picture. Iraqis don’t cry.” The following are some photo excerpts from his book.
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
Before toppling the statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, US Marines cover it with the US flag in Baghdad’s al-Fardous street on April 9, 2003. They removed it shortly afterwards and replaced it with an old Iraqi flag. 6 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
7 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
photo: Patrick Baz
Smoke billowing from burning oil trenches covers Baghdad on April 2, 2003.
8 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
9 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
An Iraqi girl crosses a street patrolled by US soldiers with the 9th Cavalry Regiment in Baghdad’s Haifa Sheikh Ali neighborhood on March 19, 2007.
10 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
Two detained Baath party members sit under the gun of a US soldier with the 141st Artillery Brigade following a raid on a house in Baghdad’s al-Adhamiyah neighborhood early May 20, 2003.
11 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
The camera of an injured photographer lies covered in blood on the 5th floor of Baghdad’s Palestine Hotel on April 8, 2003. A Spanish cameraman working for a Spanish TV channel and a Ukrainian cameraman from TV news agency Reuters, were killed and five other journalists were wounded, when a US army tank fired at a Palestine Hotel in Baghdad.
12 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
13 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
14 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
A female US soldier with the 2nd Battalion 12th Field Artillery Regiment searches an Iraqi woman, while an Iraqi soldier stands guard, February 25, 2008, as she arrives at an improvised clinic set up by the US military in the school of al-Abara Baquba neighborhood, 20 km northeast of Baghdad.
15 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
A US marine with 3/5 Lima company leads away a gagged and bound man during operations in the city of Fallujah, November 13, 2004, 50 km west of Baghdad.
16 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
An Arab volunteer, carrying a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG), stands in front of a blackboard with instructions in Arabic on how to use RPGs, under the title
17 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
“Arab Muslim volunteers” at a training camp at an unspecified location north of the Iraqi capital on March 12, 2003.
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
A member of the Iraqi Republican Guard, an elite squad composed of the best trained and most highly motivated men in the Iraqi army, stands with a hole in his helmet on the outskirts of Baghdad on April 3, 2003.
18 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
19 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
US Marines walk pass a dismounted statue of Saddam Hussein on Baghdad’s al-Fardous square on April 10, 2003.
20 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
Iraqis hit and trample a statue of President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad on April 9, 2003 after US tanks rolled into the heart of the Iraqi capital.
21 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
22 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
photo: Patrick Baz
An Iraqi girl flies a kite as a US Army patrol drives by on November 6, 2003 at the Festivity Square, a landmark of Baghdad, where ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein used to attend military parades. Called on by Iraqi artists, some 100 people gathered around to ‘draw in the sky’.
23 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Patrick Baz
Iraqi Mustafa Mohammad, 13, wearing a WWII gas mask, plays with his sister Haya in a trench shored up by sandbags and bricks at their home garden in a Baghdad residential suburb on March 6, 2003. Saddam had made an appeal to his people to dig trenches in their gardens for protection prior to the US-led war against Iraq.
24 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
25 : Don’t Take My Picture. Iraqis Don’t Cry
sowar : dec/10
The Veil
Photos and commentary: Roger Moukarzel
In 2002 and 2003, the exhibition Le Voile (“The Veil” in French) encouraged spectators in Beirut, Paris, Marseilles, and Brussels to question the exclusivity of the relationship between Islam and the Veil. Roger Moukarzel photographed six Lebanese women, each of whom belong to a different religion and, yet, cover their hair. He identified the inherit symbolic link between the Veil and its internal indications as reflected by the wearer’s face. The Veil is a growing and maturing piece of work, as Roger continuously takes photos of women around the world. The following six portraits are those of the veiled Lebanese women displayed in the original exhibition.
28 : The Veil
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Roger Moukarzel
Roger standing in front of his Le Voile exhibition at La Crypte, beneath l’Eglise Saint Joseph des Peres Jesuites in Monot, Beirut, Lebanon.
29 : The Veil
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Roger Moukarzel
30 : The Veil
Christian Catholic sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Roger Moukarzel
31 : The Veil
Druze sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Roger Moukarzel
32 : The Veil
Muslim Shiite sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Roger Moukarzel
33 : The Veil
Christian Orthodox sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Roger Moukarzel Š Cover photo
34 : The Veil
Muslim Sunni sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Roger Moukarzel
35 : The Veil
Christian Maronite sowar : dec/10
Babies need open-heart surg Support the Brave Heart Fund.
gery too.
www.braveheartfund.org
Mouneh Photos and commentary: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
Barbara Abdeni Massaad’s newest book, “Mouneh: Preserving Foods for the Lebanese Pantry,” is a comprehensive study of traditional Lebanese food preserving methods derived from recipes produced all around Lebanon—methods which are an important aspect of Lebanese culinary heritage. The word mouneh comes from the Arabic word mana, meaning “storing”. In the past, especially in remote villages in Lebanon, mouneh was prepared during summer’s bountiful harvest for consumption during winter’s harsh days. Today, mouneh has become more of a sociological act—a way to keep the culinary heritage alive. The following are some pictures from the book. photo: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
Shanklish is a type of aged dried cheese, produced by rolling cheese into balls.
38 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
39 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
photo: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
Dried tomatoes carefully produced manually in the village of Aarsaal in the South of Lebanon.
40 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
photo: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
A woman makes tomato paste from fresh tomatoes.
41 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
42 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
Women making Darfieh, a traditional Lebanese cheese, in the high mountains of Zghorta.
43 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
photo: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
A selection of jams presented in “kitsch� jars.
44 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
45 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
46 : Mouneh
Sawsan prepares Labneh (strained yogurt) balls for the weekly farmers’ market in Beirut.
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
An elderly lady pounding garlic using the quintessential Lebanese kitchen utensil— the mortar.
47 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
48 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
photo: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
A group of beekeepers collecting honey in the Southern region of Lebanon.
49 : Mouneh
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
50 : Mouneh
A worker harvests Damascus roses early in the morning in Karsnaba in the Bekaa Valley.
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Barbara Abdeni Massaad
51 : Mouneh
Perfumed Damascus rose petals being distilled to make rose water.
sowar : dec/10
photo: Jason Larkin
Mohammed Salah, 64, has been selling his broken watches and used tools for over 10 years in the Souq El-Gomma, ever since he retired from his job.
52 : Souq El-Gomma
sowar : dec/10
Souq El-Gomma Photos: Jason Larkin commentary: Jack Shenker
Souq El-Gomma, “the Friday Market,� began almost half a century ago as a ragged assortment of faded silverware and broken antiques laid out in the shadows of the Sikket Hadid El-Suweis road-bridge in Egypt. Today, it is believed to be the largest street market in the Middle East, where anything from camel hooves to second-hand toilet lids can be obtained for the right price. As spectacular as it is repugnant, the contradictions and commotions of Souq El-Gomma inspire the full spectrum of emotions in its visitors. 53 : Souq El-Gomma
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
A line of jewelry sellers pass the time smoking shisha pipes.
Stalls have reached the disused train tracks far from where the market originally began, as more and more first-time sellers arrive to set up shop.
54 : Souq El-Gomma
sowar : dec/10
55 : Souq El-Gomma
sowar : dec/10
56 : Souq El-Gomma
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
Two young boys selling bags of candy at the end of the market day.
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
Some of the market sellers live inside of the market with their goods. There is no electricity or running water for most of the stalls.
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
A market seller dozes in the doorway to a large El-Gomma family tomb. Thousands of similar low-rise mausoleums dot the landscape in this ‘City of the Dead.’ 57 : Souq El-Gomma
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
58 : Souq El-Gomma
Traders set up makeshift market stalls in the early hours of the morning so as to guarantee a space within the alleys of the City of the Dead.
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
59 : Souq El-Gomma
Mohammed Anwar dismantles computer equipment for spare parts to sell on his rickety sales patch, which also doubles as his home.
sowar : dec/10
60 : Souq El-Gomma
sowar : dec/10
61 : Souq El-Gomma
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
Ahmed, a second hand toilet seller, looks on as his business partner negotiates a sale with a customer.
Throughout the market there are tradesmen selling off old stock at reduced prices.
sowar : dec/10
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
Antiques and collectibles gather dust on the shelves of a market stall which has been running for over 30 years inside Souq El-Gomma.
A young boy holds a puppy for sale inside the animal section of the market. Dogs have become a popular business in the market with many being sold for private security.
[ ] photo: Jason Larkin
Fish for sale in the animal section of the market.
62 : Souq El-Gomma
sowar : dec/10
63 : Souq El-Gomma
sowar : dec/10