Images & Words
Images & Words- Reflections of Ireland & Venice
Hada Sarhan - The Jordan Times
January 2004

Photographs by novelist and poet Ibrahim Nasrallah are currently on display at The Khalid Shoman Foundation - Darat Al Funun.

The photos, depicting abstract images of reflections on water in Venice and Ireland, were taken when the novelist was in Ireland last year for a literary meeting with academic and cultural institutions organised by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Nasrallah was also the guest of honour at the Fondamenta of Venice.
 

"The eye-catching landscapes and the stunning details of nature captured my mind and heart," said the 49-year-old poet. "Images and Words" features 55 photos in both black and white and colour, are close-ups of landscapes of moments suspended in time, highlighting the natural, charming beauty of Italy and Ireland. Abstraction, according to Nasrallah, is a means of honestly expressing the uniqueness of one's spirit and mind.

"Nasrallah has succeeded in transforming ordinary things around us into extraordinary images," said the poet Yousef Abdul Aziz. "He shares his passion for nature by revealing the serene beauty of unspoiled areas that we all yearn to visit, but rarely see," added Abdul Aziz.

For Nasrallah, director of cultural and literary activities at Darat Al Funun, photography is an artistic empowerment to his writings, seeking to establish the interrelationship between the word and the image. "Photography is among our principal ways of making sense of this world, exactly like novels and poetry," said Nasrallah, who has established 13 collections of poetry and 10 novels.

For him photography is a means of communicating with others "an expression of my insights and emotions in images. I like to convey them to others." Nasrallah, who participated in 'Writers Who Paint' in 1993 and 'The Autobiography of an Eye' in 1996 two photo exhibitions held in Amman believes that the awakening of one's insight was the key of good artistic work.

"My first contacts with photography were spontaneous, immediate and exciting, like falling in love at first sight," said the artist. Nasrallah explained that he takes his time in scouting out locations and deliberates on the best angle, light and composition.

Nasrallah has won seven prizes for his literary works: 'The Best Book of the Year Award' in 1980, 1982 and 1984; 'The Arar Poetry Award' for his complete works in 1991; The Najeeb Mahfouth Prize' (Egypt) for his novel 'Just the two of us' and the UAE Literary Award,' for Arab poetry.

Many of his works have been translated to other languages, including English, French, German and Spanish. The exhibition can be seen through Feb 19.