Abandoned Lebanon by James Kerwin

Introduction

Back in 2016, I came across an article which marked the ten-year anniversary of the end of the 2006 Lebanon war by asking eighteen of their photographers to reflect on the images they had taken. The result was brilliant and touching, and subsequently inspired me to research and visit Lebanon myself. In 2019, I was at last able to set foot in the country of which I had been dreaming and which I had been frantically investigating for three years. I realised then how fast Lebanon was changing, and would change again – a feeling that was later confirmed by my second trip in 2021. This is why I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to capture even a few of the wonders Lebanon hosts, hoping they will remain standing and even be restored in the future.

Nestled against the Mediterranean Sea and flanked by Syria to the north and east, with Israel to the south, the land now known as Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuries, before coming under French rule after World War I. Lebanon gained independence from France in 1943, but the Allies occupied the region until the very end of World War II. Lebanon’s history since its independence has been marked by alternating periods of turmoil, and political stability and prosperity, the latter being built on Beirut’s position as a regional centre for finance, business, and trade.

Not long after World War II, in 1947 another war broke out, this time with Israel. The Palestine War (or the War of Independence) has left many scars which can still be seen across the country today. An estimated 100,000 Palestinians fled to Lebanon during the war with Israel, and were not permitted to return after the ceasefire in 1949. As of 2019 there are still an estimated 175,000 to 450,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, with at least half still in decades-old refugee camps which nowadays resemble permanent settlements and neighbourhoods.

During the 1960s, Lebanon was relatively calm. During this time Beirut even earned the nickname “the Paris of the...
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