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summer academy
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December 2002
Said Nuseibeh - A Silent Poet Speaks
By
Hada Sarhan
-
Jordan Times
AMMAN
For Palestinian photographer Said Nuseibeh, the photograph
is an honest medium that cannot lie as spoken and written
language does. "Language is a barrier. Often times more a
hindrance than a help," said the artist, adding that photos
can be misinterpreted only if manipulated by computer.
"Liquid and Light," currently displayed at Darat Al Funun
features 36 photos of San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers,
grouped into two sets. The coloured photographs are displayed
in the Blue House's main room, featuring close-ups with tremendous
colours created by the reflection of light on water and through
stained glass. In the second room, a collection of black and
white photos provides a more panoramic presentation of the
conservatory. These combine light with the partially ruined
faade, shot at different angles and at different times of
the day.
Nuseibeh told The Jordan Times that making abstract photos
is easier than photographing something real. "You do not have
to worry about reality much. It is important to me to communicate
on an imaginative level and not just on realistic one.
The artist explained the Dome of the Rock also inspired his
conservatory photos. Nuseibeh, well-known regionally for his
photo work of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem,
said taking photographs "makes me aware of parallels between
the inspirational architecture found in California and that
in Palestine.
The photographer said he was "gifted a revelatory vision of
transcendence." "The subject [I have ] photographed," said
Nuseibeh, "were obliterated by a constellation of feeling
and knowledge that redefined things before my lens My visions
connect me with the universe in a wholly new fashion, opening
up fresh reservoir of meaning and association." For Nuseibeh
it is not so much a matter of "taking" photographs, as it
is of "making" them. "I don't 'shoot' or 'capture' photographs,"
he said, pointing out he hates such terminology.
"Shooting is killing and hunting. Taking photographs is robbing
and stealing. I make something based upon what I see in the
world around it and make something new out of it," explained
the artist, adding that his work is a creative act, not one
of usurpation, expropriation or capture." "I make photographs
in the same spirit that I write poetry," said Nuseibeh, a
degree holder in English literature from Bir Zeit University.
Photographs, the artist continued, can communicate things
better than I can possibly say. The artist added, however,
that sometimes the abstract nature of his work can be augmented
with text. "By writing a poem about some of my photos I can
make people come closer to my photographs." "there are things
I think are important that I want to share with the world.
I'd like people to be able to understand the world I am working
in," concluded Nuseibeh.
The photographer's work can be seen at Darat Al Funun through
Feb.20.
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