Powerful Photos of Five Years of Upheaval in the Middle East

FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Photo

Powerful Photos of Five Years of Upheaval in the Middle East

We spoke to photographer Moises Saman about the work in his new book, 'Discordia'

A masked protester near Tahir Square, Cairo, Egypt. January, 2013. © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

Back in 2014, we spoke to photographer Moises Saman about his work documenting the Arab Spring and the unrelenting hopelessness of working in Afghanistan. The photos he was taking then have now worked their way into his self-published book Discordia, a powerful account of the Arab Spring movements and the grinding conflicts that sprang from a number of them.

The book—as one familiar with Moises's work would expect—varies throughout, from shocking images of violence to emotionally-charged portraiture to serene landscape images. We thought we should catch up Moises for an update on his work and his feelings about the Middle East's ongoing ructions.

Advertisement

An anti-Qaddafi rebel fighter, Zawiyah, Libya. February, 2011. © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

VICE: Last time I spoke to you, you were planning a book on Egypt specifically. Is Discordia what came of that plan, or a separate idea altogether?
Moises Saman: Indeed, the first dummy of Discordia was only focused on Egypt, but in the course of these recent years, the many revolutions that I was covering overlapped, and in my mind became one blur, one story in themselves. To tell this story the way I lived it, I felt the need to go beyond a particular event or location and create a new visual narrative that spoke about the larger experience, in the same frenzied manner in which I was working.

How would you describe the book to someone who's not seen it?
Discordia is an up-close and honest visual record of the time I spent living and working as a photojournalist in the Middle East. This book is not a first draft of history, the photographs are not intended to lecture the viewer about the complexities of the Middle East.

The torso of a suspected Shabiha prisoner. His body is covered in pro-Assad tattoos that he later defaced with a razor blade. © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

As with you other work, Discordia is decidedly untraditional in terms of the way the photos are arranged. They aren't chronological, or divided by regions or conflicts, as some might expect. This is something we spoke about before—but could you explain your approach to how you use images to create a narrative?
In Discordia, I felt the need to transcend the "news" aspect of the story, and instead work with the slightly more imprecise images that, in my opinion, offer a more nuanced narrative, one that was more in tune with my personal experience in the region. The sequence and layout were meticulously organized, like in a puzzle, where each single part is bound to the next to create a larger whole. The picture pairings, foldouts, and collages in Discordia depict real moments that are connected through a shared sense of tension and ambiguity, with the purpose of steering the dialogue toward the emotional rather than the factual.

Advertisement

One thing that jumps out to someone familiar with your work is those photo montages and the collage pages you just mentioned. What do these offer that you felt wasn't achievable with your single photos?
The idea for the collages came from Daria Birang, a Dutch-Iranian artist and close collaborator of mine who was also involved in the editing and sequencing of the photographs in the book. The collages emerged from our dissatisfaction in portraying the protesters simply as the subjects of an action image. Instead, we became obsessed with their body language, the theatrics, and performance-like rituals that I saw repeated during the countless demonstrations and clashes that I photographed.

A woman involved in clashes near the Intercontinental Hotel, Cairo, Egypt. January, 2013. © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

You worked in the Balkans during the conflict there. People often talk about the "Balkanisation" of Iraq, or the Middle East in a wider sense. With this body of work now in one place, what's your feeling about the years you have spent covering the region. One of hope? Or has your famous faith in humanity taken a hit?
I left the Middle East with many more questions than answers, but I learned to respect the limitations, as a Westerner, that are inherent in my approach to understanding the region. Beyond feelings of hope or pessimism, for me, it was more important to understand that the simple narratives of good versus evil—or the clear distinctions between victim and perpetrator—that are so common in the West do not necessarily apply there.

Advertisement

Separate to that, what's the message you want people to take away from the book?
I hope the book makes people feel the intensity of the period, which includes moments of horror, sadness, love, defiance, comedy, and dignity.

You can buy Discordia here. See more images from the book below:

A Qaddafi supporter holds a portrait of the Libyan leader as fireworks go up in the background on a football field in a suburb of Zawiyah, where government minders took a group of foreign journalists to attend a staged celebration. Libya. March 9, 2011 © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

Camels at a camel market. Birqash, Egypt. April 22, 2011. © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

Bags caught on a tree along a desert road on the outskirts of Gafsa in western Tunisia. February 17, 2013 © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

Riot I, collage © Daria Birang and Moises Saman

Young protesters take shelter behind a barricade during clashes with Egyptian police on the second anniversary of the revolution. Cairo, Egypt. January, 2013. © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

A man stands with his dog in Sur district in Diyarbakir, the main Kurdish city in Turkey. January 5, 2015 © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

A makeshift swing made with a plastic chair inside a mosque that was occupied by Syrian Army soldiers on the frontline of the Salahedin district. Aleppo, Syria. March 25, 2013. © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos