Lebanese Photography Magazine

Street Photography Competition Turned into a Book “Lakum Hamra2akum wa li Hamra2i” - Falak Shawwa "Over Time"

Interview with Mohamad Badr, Spreadminds - Marketing Managing Director

Rudy: Why this project?

Mohamad: I am an addict to Hamra and into photography, so we thought why not something about Hamra. This project took three months starting October 2009.

We wanted a project with a value and not commercial. We organized it under the Patronage of the Ministry of Culture.

“Lakum Hamra2akum wa li Hamra2i” is a Street Photography competition aiming to bring together photographers at all levels in a challenge to document and eternalize Hamra Street with all its authenticity, variety and contradictions.

Rudy: Where did the idea come from?

Mohamad: The project was inspired by a poem written by me (about the faces of Hamra). The name was also inspired from the Holy Quran and Jubran Khalil Jubran.

Rudy: what are the Project Achievements?

Mohamad: First of all, the importance of this project is that it really united Lebanese from all religion and sects.

Secondly, many photography competitions happened lately but the photos submissions had a bit shy number (50 or more), but with this project it was unbelievable, photography is a passion, so we had 350 photos among which we chose 79 photographers.

In the final book we published 80 photos from 41 photographers creating a continuity of the project.

The beauty of this book is that everybody saw Hamra from his point of view.

Now after this project is finished you see more people taking photos in Hamra, so it became an Iconic image.

Soon a new project will be launched, this time it is not Hamra.

Rudy: Where is the book available and what is the price?

Mohamad: What we did ian affordable art in the term of cost, for allowing everybody to have a copy of the book.

On July 21, Photography Book Launching event was at De Prague!
The Book is now available in all bookstores all over Lebanon.