For some unknown reason, as a kid growing up in South Texas and Wyoming I was fascinated by the Middle East and particularly what was happening in Lebanon. The factions fighting, the city caught in the middle, the history and culture on the line, not to mention the complexity of the regional religious values. I was hooked on Lebanon from the window of my bedroom and from my imagination. Eli Reed had a similar feeling. But in his case he took action. Eli went to Beirut, stayed longer than he thought he would but returned with material enough to make a book. City of Regrets. I bought his book in 1997 and have looked at it hundreds of times. Simple, strong, personal, and reflective of what happens when someone commits to a story. His partner on this was Faoud Ajami and the pair deserve credit for creating this historical document.
Comments 4
Looks like a powerful book. Amazing country. I’ve been there, but not to Beirut. Would love to go there. I hope they can catch a break soon. The ship explosion was just awful. Their resilience is incredible, but they all know trauma too well.
Author
Scott,
That blast was something else. Scary as Hell.
That looks like a great book.
Recently I’ve stopped buying photo books. I know that’s not good but I have plenty of them on my shelves that I never look at anymore. The only ones I do look at are ones that can inspire me to go out and shoot locally as going further afield is now a pipe dream.
The thing is, I feel guilty and sad about it because I used to relish looking at photo books of faraway places. Books like City of Regrets deserve more attention.
Author
Sean,
I did too. There is simply no room in the van. No more, at least for now.