Le Coeur à Droite

Le Coeur a Droite in Video - II

2011-12-07T11:39:00.000+02:00

Another Video of mine. I've done this quite a while ago but just couldn't have time to post it.
I have loads of ideas recently, loads of projects, but not much time to put my mind into it.

Love you all !!!

Beautiful Little Strangers II

2011-08-24T09:40:00.000+03:00

Faraway Streets

2011-08-14T11:02:00.000+03:00

'From human behavior to human form'

Quand le Coeur s'arrête de battre - When the Heart stops beating

2011-08-07T18:52:00.001+03:00

I don’t talk much. Not only because I’d rather have my pictures do the talking, but because it’s so much easier not to talk or discuss pictures like these.

Most people wonder about misery. They look at it, stare at it, and will walk away from it very easily in order to forget it. I chose to take pictures of it.

I look at it, stare at it, and live with it through my pictures.

I know I should have other choices as a photographer. But it feels instinctive to want to show what a MAD world we’re living in. These things shouldn’t exist.

We’re all equal souls.

I might be an extremist against anything that isn’t justice or reason.

There is no joy out of taking these pictures. There’s only a person with a camera trying very hard to find himself and make sense out of the human condition…

(Also Posted on Beirut Street Photography)

Salt - Lebanon

– Dora – 2011

Shame & Protect -

Lebanon

– Corniche – 2010

She was protecting her brother from being photographed. In the end, I think she ended up making a big favor to the adult who asked an 8 year old kid to polish his shoe.

The World Behind - Italy – Torino – 2009

When God is in the House -

Lebanon

– Jounieh – 2010

God’s messenger walks away from a deprived mother.

On the Side -

Lebanon

- Dora – 2011

Clichés of Ramlet el Bayda

2011-07-30T11:51:00.000+03:00

Concerts

2011-06-25T00:21:00.002+03:00

Most of these pictures were lurking in my archives, never knew when was the right moment to actually do a decent post... They're very random and picked a single shot out of many... Hope you like them :)

Baalbeck, 25th of July 2009 - Crowd throwing cushions after the Deep Purple gig.

Baalbeck, 25th of July 2009 - Ian Gillian, Deep Purple's vocalist.

Baalbeck, 25th of July 2009 - Steve Morse, Deep Purple's guitarist sharing his guitar with the fans.

Baalbeck, 25th of July 2009 - Before Purple's concert in the Majestic temple

Beiteddine, 18 July 2009 - Emir Kusturica & the No Smoking Orchestra.

Beiteddine, 18 July 2009 - Powerful Performance by Nele Karajlić, singer of the No Smoking Orchestra.

Byblos, 23 July 2009 - Gonzales decided to rap and play piano with his feet.

Beirut, 11 October 2009 - American jazz singer & pianist Freddy Cole and his Trio.

Beirut, 12 June 2011 - Goran Bregovic & his Weddings and Funerals Orchestra

Beautiful Strangers IV

2011-05-20T19:24:00.001+03:00

Clichés of Damascus - Color

2011-05-05T16:08:00.005+03:00

I wish I was able to capture Syria's situation at the moment. Unfortunately, I was there too early.
I was part of a film festival, and did not have any photography-time. Nonetheless, Damascus is full of interesting subjects, and while I walked from a place to another, looking out of my hotel room or going in a random direction and getting lost, I was able to capture these photos.
Today, these pictures are at least 2 months old.
Somehow, I didn't know if I should have shared them. The feeling is somewhere else...

Clichés of Damascus - B&W

2011-04-01T21:16:00.001+03:00

The banner reads: "Struggle to Achieve Justice"

Meanwhile, the poor man reads and the rich walks.

My heart and thoughts are with my friends and people from Syria.
In recent days, some were arrested, beaten up and intimidated. Soon enough, this will all be history... all of it !

Insolite!

2011-03-11T15:40:00.000+02:00

Clichés of Istanbul - Color

2011-02-13T17:16:00.000+02:00

Clichés of Istanbul - B&W II

2011-02-03T17:16:00.000+02:00

Clichés of Istanbul - B&W

2011-01-28T19:28:00.000+02:00

Burn - Un Ange Passe

2011-01-17T22:16:00.001+02:00

The yellow sign says: "It is absolutely forbidden to park here."

I don't usually talk so much on my blog...

But I wanted to say thanks to each and everyone of you who took the time to look at my pictures, comment, left a note or an email, everyone who follows my work...

I love you guys.

I have loads of pictures to share. I just need to find the time to post them. Hope you'll like them...

Happy New Year ( late I know ), hope 2011 will bring new beginnings, adventures and unexpected encounters :)

Cheers

Clichés of Corniche Beirut

2010-12-11T20:07:00.006+02:00

3 Days in Torino 2009

2010-11-13T13:09:00.000+02:00

On the 11-13 May 2009, over a year ago, I was in Torino, Italy for small business.

Some of my already posted pictures were taken there... I never did a post related to Torino.

So, I just felt like sharing a modest post about it.

Let There Be Joy

2010-10-28T17:37:00.003+03:00

Click to Enlarge

Stare and Walk Away

2010-10-05T12:33:00.001+03:00

I went to the Hamra Street Festival. Yup... I was one of many holding a camera.

I've seen this child numerous times in the festival and I just couldn't feel that this celebration was a very happy one. I've taken many pictures there... and when I look at them now, nothing makes sense to me anymore as much as this encounter...

And I haven't been talking much about my pictures lately... wondering if I should...

So I asked my sister to write something... her inspiration.

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J’aurai voulu composer la fanfare de l’espoir.

Entre les échos des rues, et une promenade à Hamra.

Là où les passants passent…

Mais les sons restent coincés entre ma cage thoracique et mes cordes vocales.

Petit poucet, tes yeux qui s’absentent avec chaque battement de cils.

Et tu ne parles plus…

Englouti dans tes silences.

Le monde te regarde et tu ne bouges plus.

Petit poucet, j’aurai voulu composer pour toi la fanfare de l’espoir.

Mais ceux qui te regardent ont écorché mes notes…

Ont écorché mes restes.

H* (AKA http://un-cri.blogspot.com/)

Beautiful Little Strangers

2010-09-26T10:00:00.000+03:00

Le Coeur A Droite in Video...

2010-08-16T19:46:00.002+03:00

Le Coeur A Droite from Elias Moubarak on Vimeo.

This is just a video to those who are unfamiliar with my work...
Of course, this doesn't represent everything I do, but more like, what means to me most.

Black and White Street Photography.

Hope you like it :)

Clichés of Paris

2010-08-13T21:51:00.017+03:00

Métro

2010-06-30T18:08:00.010+03:00

Père Lachaise

2010-06-25T13:45:00.002+03:00

"La science est impuissante face à la mort.
Seuls l'art et les rêves nous offrent une consolation. "

Le cimetière de Jim Morrison, Delacroix, Oscar Wilde, Appolinaire, La Fontaine, Moliere, Michel Petrucciani, Georges Meliès, Piaf, Henri Salvador, Bizet, Maria Callas, Modigliani, Yves Montand, Chopin, Jean Moulin, etc...

Beautiful Strangers III : from France

2010-06-05T11:58:00.000+03:00

Minnie Shot Me Down !

2010-05-30T00:37:00.018+03:00

-Personal War-

2010-04-30T19:06:00.002+03:00

Moods

2010-04-22T23:34:00.001+03:00

Beautiful Strangers II

2010-04-04T22:54:00.002+03:00

The Exhibition went great ! :D

2010-04-04T19:22:00.000+03:00

Thanks a lot for those who got to see the exhibition, their comments and their encouragements ! :D
Thanks to the interesting people I met...

Thanks to Photo Forum Beirut for giving me the opportunity to show my work lately...

Thanks to everyone...

See you next time, next exhibition...

Agenda Culturel

2010-02-24T21:14:00.002+02:00

The Agenda Culturel contacted me, asking for a cover for their newest publication. They were considering using the Lebanese Postmodernism piece, but it wouldn't fit perfectly for their square format. So, they chose this picture instead... They're a great team !

I hope you like it, its out in libraries...

My 1st Exhibition ! :D

2010-02-24T13:32:00.008+02:00

"Rust never sleeps" is my 1st photography exhibition.
The opening will be on March the 5th at 6:30pm, at Centre Culturel de Byblos - Old Souk Jbeil.

The exhibiton is open till the 14th, from 10am to 8pm. (I will let you know if the time will change...)

For more information: 03-611483
Sponsored by: Artishock, Chemaly & Chemaly Printing Press, and Centre Culturel de Byblos.

Hope to see you all there !
Don't be shy and gimme a call ! :D

Poster and Invites were designed by my
little miss pixel !

Beautiful Strangers

2010-02-11T13:23:00.001+02:00

Stories VI - Remember Photo Joe - تذكروا فوتو جو

2010-02-02T20:29:00.001+02:00

- Kevork with one of his many portraits of himself.

On the 8th of October in Bourj Hammoud,
As i was walking in random directions, I bump into him, Kevork Tachdjian, playing Tawleh with a partner.
I ask him if I can take his picture. He asks why. I tell him I love photography... Its just a hobby of mine.
He tells me used to own the 1st photography shop in Bourj Hammoud.
I asked him if he knows anything about the Polaroid films (I've been desperately trying to find some!).
Turns out he gave his last Polaroid camera to Paul Guiragossian a couple of days before he died.
Seeing that I'm a passionate photographer, he started talking... and I just couldn't stop him.

He was actually sitting exactly where his old store was...
But today, it looked more like a storage room, like Ali-Baba's cavern. From old Mona Lisa painting, radios, chairs, boxes and tools etc... all thrown inside randomly. Do not expect to step a foot inside.

He tells me he wants to show me his pictures.
He knows exactly where every object is. He tells me about the picture of the girl who's on the glass of the store. He told me she was his muse, a beautiful creature, and a young soul. Until she ran away (still a teenager) and married a man who used to beat her up.
He used to take a lot of pictures of her. When she came back a couple of years later, he was shocked.
His muse changed; her face looked so tired; she just wasn't the same.
He puts two pictures of her together, for me to notice the difference. He's right! The feeling is clearly not the same. He curses the man in a charming Armenian accent.

He then stops, and jumps to show me his picture of him and Abdel Halim Hafez. He's very proud of himself!
Abdel Halim was hospitalized in Lebanon. And Kevork knew how to get a hold of him at the hospital.

He showed the picture of his store: And I fell in love with it...
He showed me dozens of pictures... of him his family, his parents (the two old people in the same picture) and people he knows, feeling very confident in front of my camera.

Last but not least, he shares with me, a portrait that Paul Guiragossian made of him. It is signed 'Paul' and is surely authentic.
"In his lifetime, Guiragossian became Lebanon's most celebrated painter, a renown he retains to this day."

I felt like Kevork shared his treasure box, his life, his passion, a period in time I was too young to experience...

Please, remember him.

-Click to Enlarge (there's 26 pictures, 3.18 mb file)

Where Lovers Meet...

2010-01-28T13:45:00.001+02:00

Children of Heaven

2010-01-28T13:44:00.002+02:00

Come Night I Reign

2010-01-28T13:43:00.001+02:00

Stories V - Her name was Ursula

2010-01-14T12:17:00.009+02:00

Taken on the 30th of June 2009, in Tripoli.

I was with Nour, my girlfriend. We were sitting in an open space in the ancient Tripoli Souk.
People started moving, looking, staring at the same place.
That women, dressed from head to toe in black, walking with chains and a lock on it appeared suddenly.
People's reaction was priceless. She walks fast, and provokes everybody staring for a long time, provokes anyone trying to make contact or trying to touch her.
She looked angry at some people. She didnt say a word though...
We were surprised.
A military man (photographed in the Clichés of Tripoli), tells us that this woman is seriously crazy/insane.
She's from Iranian origins.
He said that she wasn't always wearing this outfit.
That she's a very beautiful woman underneath...
I couldn't take a picture at the time.

After a couple of hours, walking in Tripoli, taking a picture of Nour behind the same background, she comes walking towards us. I jump on the occasion, and ask her if she would like to be photographed.
She doesn't say a word. She gets in the frame, she hugs Nour, starts caressing her back and hair in a weird manner. She seems to be smiling. I take pictures.
Nour gets out of the frame. And she looks at me, and give me this position.
I take the picture. I look at her with gratitude. She continues her way without saying a single word.

People who've seen me take a picture of her come to me "How the hell did she accept? She's a crazy person! She's violent when someone talks to her..."etc --> Everyone was very surprised of the kindness she was able to give us.

A couple of days later, we were driving in Jbeil, we see her on the road, waiting for the bus. We stop the car. She's behind us. We observe her from the mirrors of the cars for a good couple of minutes. A man, a taxi driver, knocks on my door. He asks us if we know her. We tell him we saw her before.
He's like 'I tried to offer her a ride, she kicked my car with her foot, who the hell is she? what is she???... '
We just say we don't know...
We get out of the car to say hello. She sees us. She remembered us right away. She's surprised. She screams. She hugs Nour very tightly. She tells me hello with enthusiasm.
Her eyes are colored. Her skin is very white. She really seems beautiful underneath...
She asks for our names, she tells us we're beautiful and cute together. I ask her if we can see her, in order to give her the pictures we took... she asks for our phone numbers. The bus comes. We give her our numbers, expecting hers in return, but she doesn't have any... she will be the one phoning us.
I ask her for her name. She says "Ursula".

Then again, a couple of days later, she phones us (always from different phone booths) a couple of times telling us she'd like to meet us because she has problems...
We finally set up a meeting with her. Same time and place, in Jbeil...
We get there on time. We wait for 30 minutes. She's not there. We go.
She calls me after a while. She was late. I tell her we cannot comeback, but we could set up a meeting again...
Ursula kept talking to me for around half an hour.
I am going to respect the conversation we had.
It was a lesson in life...

She never called again...

She said she wanted to fly.

Thank You

2010-01-13T21:06:00.007+02:00

Hello people,

I noticed a lot of activity on my blog recently, and i thought i'd give a sign...

My name is Elias Moubarak, my friends call me Moobz.
I am currently trying to make a documentary, independently...
I am very passionate about photography. And I take it very seriously.
For me,the greatest photography material in Lebanon is the people who are living in it... they bring out emotions and stories.
I like to shed lights on certain things we forget existent in this world...
Expect an Exhibition very soon in the Centre Culturel of Jbeil, where 30 of my pictures will be exposed.
As soon as I finish my documentary, I want to focus more on photography and better my skills by doing a masters or study photojournalism.
My dream is to take pictures around the world, where there are conflicts and people in need.
I want to thank all of you who have taken time to see my work and left me a comment.
A big thanks to all of you, silent strangers and known & unknown friends who are supporting me by linking my blog on Facebook, Twitter, DeviantArt, Tumblr, Stumbleupon... I know who you are !

Cheers,

Moobz

Photojournalism IV: Clichés of Hamra

2009-11-28T12:27:00.004+02:00

Stories IV - Lebanese Postmodernism

2009-11-07T11:35:00.005+02:00

"Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions."

When I see this, makes me wonder how the hell those stairs arrived there.
I have a feeling the original story wouldn't be as interesting as where our imagination might take us... and the things we will come up with. Tell me what you think...

One thing is sure, the person who decided to put those stairs there, is a BIG FUCKING ARTIST !!!
Hail !

Photojournalism III: Clichés of Tripoli

2009-11-01T20:44:00.002+02:00

Portraits

2009-10-24T10:49:00.001+03:00

Stories III: 2-2.5 million

2009-10-14T01:36:00.002+03:00

A couple of days after getting my camera, i hit the streets...
There was this man who saw me. He told me to take a picture of him.
He then introduces himself, telling me his name and where he is from...
Then, he asks me: how much is the population in our country ?
I say: 3 million maybe...
He says: I alone know 2 - 2.5 million. And they know me! One day, you might show this picture to someone, or have it hanged somewhere, be sure that somebody will come to you and tell you "i know this man".

This is how i edited his picture.
I saw him again many times. He lives not very far from me. He owns a little store on the road.
I gave him a print of this picture.
He felt so old, he told me: "If my wife saw this picture, she would leave me right away".

Anyway, I saw him again a couple of days ago, me and my friend were looking for something to eat.
He was selling corn at night. Such a welcoming and strong personality.
Started telling us abt the time when he was supposed to have a big shot role in a feature film...

Photojournalism II : Clichés of Bourj Hammoud

2009-10-14T01:11:00.001+03:00

Stories II: The Balcony

2009-10-09T17:01:00.001+03:00

I discovered an abandoned place. A very old restaurant i suppose... nothing there. Until you go down.
It's a place where fishermen meet, where a man, Amer, around 50 years old, practically lives there, with his cat Mimi and her little kittens.
Amer hates having his picture being taken. He let me take a picture of Mimi a long time ago. He was very pleased when i gave him a print. I go see him sometimes... he loves talking about politics. He seems educated & aware.
He's poor. But he has the best view ever!
Every once in a while, children go upstairs, and jump from the balcony to the sea...
The kid who jumped in this picture... didnt jump too well. He hurt his arm...but was okay enough to try it again !
People are living like a big family there... it's all about sharing.
Not much of an abandoned place...

A Stranger : Upper Lip

2009-10-09T16:22:00.004+03:00

A man, his cat Jimmy (see if you can find him), and a project on his mind...

La Nuit...

2009-10-09T16:13:00.001+03:00

Stories I : In a Dream...

2009-10-05T18:23:00.005+03:00

I've seen this man for 3 days straight in the morning under a bridge, in the middle of the highway. Everytime, i thought 'I wish i had a camera'...

I finally got the camera and took a picture of him.
I was extremely lucky because cars didn't hit me... I was standing in the middle of the road.
Turns out that this man crosses the road UNDER the bridge everyday, making cars hit him, and causing accidents.

He's wearing a coat, it was in the middle of the summer. And he was sleeping...

I need to see him again...

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Photojournalism I : Everybody's Waiting for Something...

2009-10-05T17:25:00.004+03:00

Rust Never Sleeps

2009-10-01T11:23:00.000+03:00

Masks for Rayak

2009-10-01T00:32:00.002+03:00

David Habchy, Ashley Choukeir, Habib Rahmeh, Romy Assouad.

The Brothers

2009-09-30T13:10:00.002+03:00

In Lebanon, Saida, Zakaria and 2 of his friends are spending all their time by the beach...