Wilson-Goldie, Kaelen. “A psychogeographic tour through Beirut.” 5 August 2010. The National. 10 August 2010. [Source]
A few years ago, the photographer Rhea Karam was standing on the edge of a vacant lot in Hamra, taking pictures for a series about the urban landscape of Beirut. The space, surrounded by tall buildings on three sides with a street running along the fourth, was full of garbage. An expensive black sedan pulled up alongside Karam. A woman of a certain age – and of a certain type who would be affectionately or derisively addressed as tante (auntie) – cracked open one of the car’s windows and bombarded Karam with abuse. “How dare you take pictures of this trash!” she shouted. “In a city as beautiful as this, how dare you focus on such ugliness?”