A loveshoot in Lebanon: Romantic couple shoot in front of Le Telegraphe de belle vue in Bhamdoun Al Dayaa
Imagine this: You're watching an episode of "In Search of the Pomegranate", you go on a Tinder date with a half-Lebanese man, and suddenly it hits you: you want to vacation in Beirut. You hesitate for a moment, thinking about wars, traditional veiled people, and an underdeveloped country. Sitting at your computer, you wonder if you should press the green button - BOOK - on the Transavia website. But you just do it. I was single, wanting something different, and not wanting to convince others to join me, so in May 2019, I booked a week-long city trip to Beirut.
When I landed and walked out of the airport's arrival hall, I smelled the evening air and felt at home. A taxi driver with a sign bearing my name awaited me. In his old Mercedes, with a rosary hanging from the mirror, we navigated through the bustling traffic. Fancy cars, very old cars, scooters, and honking everywhere. Overtaking on the right, overtaking on the left, tailgating, running red lights. Beirut, a wonderfully organized chaos that I immediately fell in love with. It feels warm there, everyone is kind, and anything goes, especially if you have cash.
During this vacation, I met Melissa at the airport. Due to a delay and arrival at Schiphol well past midnight, I offered to share my hotel room with her, and we became friends. A few months later, she visited me in the Netherlands, and I showed her Maastricht and Hasselt. We also went to the forest in Valkenburg. She loved it here. So, in 2021, I returned to Lebanon, first in May, then again in August, and then in May 2022 and September 2022.
And so, I got the idea that I would like to start my business here. Because Lebanon is beautiful, and Lebanese people are romantic and love to get married. How amazing would it be if I could live here for three months a year and photograph weddings!
When Melissa and her boyfriend told me they were getting married, I spontaneously offered to photograph the wedding. To try out how I would fare abroad. I saw it as a serious task and a huge challenge to do my work in another country and culture. Would they in Lebanon be open to my style of spontaneous and journalistic photography?
I'm back home now, after landing at Schiphol at 1 am last night. With two memory cards containing over 4000 wedding photos. I took this small loveshoot the evening before the wedding, quickly within 10 minutes, in front of the wedding venue, to check the light. These are the first photos I took here. In the hotel, I found a large heart made of corks from wine bottles, and in front of the door, I saw the yellowed grass, and I immediately thought what a beautiful combination those shades make together in the setting sun.
