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“Between Sea and Desert,” an exhibition currently held at the Art District – House of Photography in Gemmayze, is poised to present until November 18 a retrospective of the photographic works of two artists, Khodr Cherri and Maher Attar. Beautifully located on Gouraud Street, this space, known to be a haven for photography, offers visitors a chance to delve into this unique experience that transports them from marine landscapes to desert environments.
Maher Attar’s section, “Suspended Time,” invites us to explore desert expanses through the lens of Lomography. Attar, an adept of this technique, consciously sidesteps the whirlwind of digital photography, where immediacy dominates, to embrace an approach that celebrates imperfections and favors the authenticity of captured moments over the pursuit of technical perfection. Lomography liberates from conventional expectations, embracing anomalies like grain, unexpected hues, or vignetting that confers a soul and unparalleled authenticity to each image.
The mantra “Don’t think, just shoot,” emblematic of the Lomographic movement, embodies this philosophy of spontaneity, challenging rigid technical precision and celebrating creative freedom. This method, often misunderstood as giving too much room to chance, actually requires a keen sense of instinct and a profound confidence in one’s vision, qualities embodied by Maher Attar in his artistic approach.
Lomography, often dismissed as a mere contemporary fad, traces its origins to the optical manufacturer LOMO PLC of Saint Petersburg with the creation of the Lomo LC-A Compact Automat. Attar describes this device as remarkably simple, lacking the complexity of manual controls, yet producing visually rich results characterized by unusual colors and pronounced vignettes. This phenomenon gained global acclaim through the initiative of two Austrian students in the 1990s and continues to inspire renowned photographers like Attar who finds in it the freedom to capture moments that transcend time, where the past and present seem to coexist.
In contrast, yet complementary, Khodr Cherri presents “Movement and Stillness,” a series that immerses the viewer in marine depths. With his extensive diving experiences across the world’s seas, Cherri has been captivated by the hidden beauty beneath the waves, where patterns, shapes, and colors reveal a world often overlooked. He perceives surfing not just as a sport but as a dance, a dialogue between man and nature, where each broken wave is a note in an aquatic symphony.
The artist describes his photographic method as that of a sculptor working with delicacy and precision, his wide-angle lens serving as a chisel, and the water as his clay. The fluid patterns of the waves become his canvas, allowing him to “paint” images that extend his experience as a diver.
Cherri summarizes his intimate relationship with the ocean with words that evoke the duality of his art:
“I am the waves,
I am the ocean,
I am stillness and movement.”
The exhibition Between Sea and Desert does not merely juxtapose two worlds; it intertwines them to offer visitors a sensory and contemplative journey. It poetically underscores that in a troubled world, art and culture remain essential sources of well-being and conveyors of profound emotions.
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