Tsawwar… Manu Ferneini
"Eight. A number that feels substantial when measured in time — almost a decade, but not quite. Eight years have passed since I took this picture, yet I still remember the feeling of standing at the top floor of an abandoned building, facing the sea. Not only do I remember it experientially, as a day in the life, but also as a contextual slice in time. I remember how it felt to be existing back then. How it felt to be standing there, on a day that was a continuation of all the days before it. How the days to come would feel just as light; because everything that happened was of my own will. Looking back now, I think of how the vastness of the sea mirrored the mental image I held of the future. Whatever the sea concealed would remain unknown, yet the unknown never felt like a threat. I return to this image whenever I can, to realign myself with what lies ahead. I do not have to feel this scared."
Drawing from a documentary photography practice, Manu Ferneini is a creative based in Lebanon.
Tsawwar is an ongoing visual series in Daftar which explores the stories behind a photograph, taken in the region or by an Arab photographer, written in their own words.
