Notebook Volume 38

Already been in a Lake of Fire

This notebook contains 145 cutout photographs of cars. They correspond to the exact make, model, and color of every car that was used as a car bomb in the Lebanese wars of 1975 to 1991.

Each of the following plates includes along with the cutout photograph Dr. Fakhouri's notations on the date, place, and time of the detonation; make, model, and color of the car-bomb; type of explosives used in the detonation; method of detonation; and number of casualties, among others.

Untitled (1982-2007)

In the summer of 1982, I stood along with others in a parking lot across from my mother's apartment in East Beirut, and watched the Israeli land, air, and sea assault on West Beirut. The PLO along with their Lebanese and Syrian allies retaliated, as best they could.

East Beirut welcomed the invasion, or so it seemed and that much is certain. West Beirut resisted it, or so it seemed and that much is certain.

One day, my mother even accompanied me to the hills around Beirut to photograph the invading Israeli army stationed there. Soldiers rested their bodies and their weapons as they waited for their next orders to attack or retreat.

I was 15 in 1982, and wanted to get as close as possible to the events, or as close as my newly acquired camera and lens permitted me. Clearly not close enough.

This past year I came across my carefully preserved negatives from that time. I decided to look again.