Image: “Lovers in the Times of Revolution”
Omar Sfeir is a Beirut-based photographer and filmmaker. His work documents human intimacy as a means of questioning social norms. His photographic journeys tell the stories of non-conformists in the context of their respective societies, inspired by the taboos of sexual expression in the MENA region, especially towards the LGBT community.
We discussed his recent photography projects, which represent the Lebanese Revolution, the Beirut explosion, and the COVID-19 crisis through visual symbolism, and his new documentary “Album,” which follows the relationships between three queer Lebanese individuals (including himself) with their mothers.
We also talked about the different ways that Arab and US cultures regulate emotional expression, and how we’ve been releasing our repressed emotions (whether by making art or by crying/screaming in our apartments).
Photo by Dasha Landa