FOR some, it seems, restlessness and curiosity are part of the human condition. Artists, musicians and creative people share the common motivation of discovery and travel their own roads simply to see what is to be seen. More often than not, the journey of intellectual discovery leads to personal revelations that lend them a perspective on their world. Often too, the journey becomes the reality, the home. Sometimes they share their discoveries and these give us pause to reflect on our own outlooks on life, and to take new perspectives. The happy coincidence of word and idea of perspective is one of the very evident themes in an exhibition of photographs at the Archiade Gallery in Jeddah this month.
Born in France and raised in Jeddah, Lebanese photographer Christophe Katrib maneuvered into rather than chose photography. His interest was first kindled as a child by taking simple snaps. It was, however, to lie dormant for years until he completed his education in Lebanon where he went to film school. “It was a broad education; we studied film, photography, music, writing, art — and that is where my love of photography resurfaced,” he said. “It was a personal thing — I did not think of it as a profession at that point.” Katrib reflected that he was passionate about several areas of expression — the guitar, music and poetry among many. “Even marine biology was a thought at one stage,” he mused. “A lot of my passions through my life were things I did on the side while I was working on other things.”
The conflict in Lebanon in 2006 had a strong emotional impact on Katrib. He took to writing every day and would often send pictures to everyone he knew. “It was a process during which a lot of my passions and values came to the surface and a lot of the things that did not matter in my life were filtered out.”
After the war he was encouraged to take part in a post-conflict exhibition and submitted photos. That was the tipping point that decided him to go public — it had gone beyond photography. “It was something that boiled deeply enough; when you feel strongly enough, you have no choice. It’s a sin not to follow it.”
First impressions of the selection of images on show were of released frustration, almost anger. Stark horizontal and vertical lines and an almost minimalist approach to his subjects, many of which if they have human figures in them reduce the forms to tiny addenda to the dominating landscapes. Telegraph poles, straight lines, profound perspectives drag the viewer into the picture demanding that he look at the space, escape into the width and depth of the landscape.
“It’s not that I wanted the horizontals and verticals,” said Katrib, “they are a side effect of what I was doing.” The pictures, he said, represented a kind of a quest — because of the difficulty and intensity of living in Lebanon. “It’s very rich — but it takes a lot out of you — it’s me regenerating, me indulging in escapism — looking for peace, looking for clarity, looking for purity — to contrast with, and make up for, the mess in Lebanon.” Katrib started in 2001 and said that all through his life creation had been a healing process for him. “What unraveled on the trip was a vision of reality, of the planet. The pictures in the exhibition are the result of that.”
Why should people be interested in his unraveling of his soul for them to see? “A big part of my soul is my environment, the world and not just my country but wherever I walk wherever I look.” He felt that not everyone had the time or the luxury to take time to think and to pause and to change their panorama.
“That’s why it is important and many people are interested. Some people might take them for granted. Some may have seen them but not thought how important they are.”
Katrib does not instruct; “It is always humbling and surprising when people get something out of a picture that you feel as well. I have learned not to demand or expect it — each person has a right to feel it in their own way. I am always curious to see what different things they see — I do not necessarily want them to see what I saw.”
Powerful but not aggressive; instructive but not didactic, the exhibition that might have been self-centered and personal escapes that by touching a chord that most feel but often do not have the means to express. Katrib manages to open doors of perception with his simple yet expressive images. The picture, he says, is not the start or end of a journey, it is the journey: “It’s the diary of the journey.”
Reaction to the images has caused Katrib to be pleasantly surprised. “Most look, but some really get into the inner workings. Everyone I have talked to connected with them — I am not here for them to photocopy my emotions, but act as a catalyst to initiate a reaction. As long as they connect — you see their eyes open, their breathing slow — that’s enough for me.”
The exhibition runs until March 20 at the Archiade Gallery off Tahlia Street, Jeddah.