Listen to the article
In an innovative endeavor, Frenco-Lebanese photographer Nathalie Tufenkjian tirelessly traversed the valley of saints, her eye riveted to the lens, captivated by the commanding aura of millennially steeped places. Her sinuous and enlightened explorations gave birth to the project On the Road of the Saints. In collaboration with Khaled Mouzanar, a photography exhibition is brought to life, intending to later culminate in an art book, as an ode to the Lebanese mountains. Notably, this exhibition finds its stage at the heart of Smar Jbeil, where De vin et de musique festival takes place on July 28, 29, and 30, 2023, under the artistic direction of Khaled Mouzanar.
Nathalie Tufenkjian captured her first portrait in 1986. Falling under the spell of human authenticity, the photographer aspires to immortalize portraits. Thus, she roams around the globe, looking for faces. She undertakes key reports in the Middle East (Jordan, Iran, Iraq…) and Latin America (Argentina…). The artist who has worked in the fashion realm for Vogue Italia and Cartier sticks to the words of Willy Ronis: “A beautiful image is geometry modulated by the heart.” As part of the Tbilisi Women’s International Conference in 2022, Nathalie held the exhibition Women of Georgia, Pearls of the Caucasus at the presidential palace, Orbeliani. She intends to create another happening in the same spirit: Lebanese Women, Pearls of the Levant.
During De vin et de musique festival, Nathalie Tufenkjian’s photos mirror her inner journey and unveil her unexpected encounters, and the light permeating her path. The photos’ reverberations resonate with the spirit and fervor of the festival, where wine, music, and earth intertwine into a mystical symphony within the citadel of Smar Jbeil, as a heartfelt artistic tribute to the region of Batroun. To venture onto the Road of the Saints, in the heart of Batroun and Northern Lebanon, is like stepping into a spacetime fissure, a voyage through the ages where whispers of man and land’s memories intertwine into a silent serenade.
Nathalie Tufenkjian is one of those people whose light fill their eyes. With this powerful glow, she perceives the world, the winding paths of Lebanese mountains, and the inhabitants’ souls she meets along the way. Her lens not only captures the fleeting moment, but also an inner radiance. She states: “I capture souls.” True to natural light, she has made it her golden rule, her mantra, persistently seeking the authenticity of beings and things, the voices illuminated by daylight, unembellished and without artifice. She sees beyond appearances and transmits, through a ray of sunshine or a beam of light, at dawn or twilight, a moment of life bathed in her source of natural light. In her photos, the snow is whiter, the gaze calmer, the hearts purer. Through the far-seeing lens of her camera, everything is elevated.
Her snapshots are a magnifying glass highlighting an element, a home, a piece of nature, a coffee cup, and the warmth of the locals. In Nathalie Tufenkjian’s lens, sanctity is within reach. As she seeks purity through the churches scattered in the mountains, she allows the wind of encounters to guide her. After engaging with people, with a single click, she freezes the moment and their existence.
Within the citadel of Smar Jbeil, in a mystical atmosphere where music meets the stars and the wind whispers to the violins, Nathalie Tufenkjian’s photos hang on the resilient walls that have defied Phoenician legends and time. Long after the concert, these photos linger in memory, like a gentle glow, lulled by the enchanting notes of Vivaldi and his Four Seasons, to which Khaled Mouzanar has added a poignant fifth, imbued with either staccato or silent notes.
Marie-Christine Tayah
Instagram : @mariechristine.tayah