Byblos Bank Headquarters, Tuesday, 12 April 2016: “My first love, I was 20 years old. We were going to get married. A week before the marriage, he cancelled everything. Don’t ask me why. Nobody knows. And you ask me to fall in love again?” This is a glimpse of the captivating story behind one of the 17 photographs exhibited at Byblos Bank Headquarters as part of Beyond Sacrifice, the first solo exhibition of Carmen Yahchouchy, winner of the 2015 Byblos Bank Award for Photography.
Curated by BEIRUT ART FAIR, this special exhibition features 17 unique photographs that represent a daring portrayal of often forgotten Lebanese women who live lives of celibacy, mostly dedicating their time to helping others.
Nada Tawil, Head of Group Communication Department at Byblos Bank, said: “Beyond Sacrifice is a cathartic experience that purifies the soul, giving you a tight feeling in your heart.” She added: “Ms. Yahchouchy has captured intense moments of the lives of very special women, sharing hints of what it must feel like to be in their shoes and educating the viewer about the impact of social traditions on individuals who don’t fit the proverbial mold”.
For her part Marine Bougaran, Head of Project and Photography Specialist at BEIRUT ART FAIR said: “The goal of documentary photography is to produce information that is raw and unnarrated, a definition that can seem very restrictive when considering the works of Dorothea Lange or Walker Evans.” She added: “Carmen Yahchouchy subscribes to this same tradition with her series Beyond Sacrifice. Moved by the position in Lebanese society of women who remain unmarried, she decided to gather their testimonies of how they see their place in the family, but also within society at large.”
Commenting on her first solo exhibition, Carmen Yahchouchy said: “This series consists of staged “tableau-vivant” images, compositions in which these women are photographed in a parallel dimension: one in which the routine steps into their beds – the place where, most attest, they feel the loneliest.” She added: “My goal is not to present new images or compositions thereof for the sake of mere novelty, to gain attention but not hold it. Instead, it is to shock most viewers, invade their comfort zones, and force them to really think about an issue of great importance for the building of a just and equitable society.”
Carmen Yahchouchy, who is pursuing a degree in Photography at the Notre Dame University – Louaize (NDU), is a talented young photographer known for delving into some of society’s most delicate issues. In 2015 her work appeared at Raw Talents, a collective exhibition held at Beirut’s Art Factum gallery. That same year she won the Byblos Bank Award for Photography and received an expert mentoring program in collaboration with BEIRUT ART FAIR and renowned Lebanese photographer Roger Moukarzel, in preparation of her first solo exhibition.
Beyond Sacrifice will be open to the public from Wednesday, 13 April 2016, until Sunday, 17 April 2016, from 4:00 PM till 9:00 PM on weekdays, and from 10:00 AM till 9:00 PM during the weekend.