Bedu
‘Bedu’ addresses issues of identity and representation by studying the history of western photographic representation of the Arab man. Within this context, the Bedouin man was constantly performing for the voyeuristic gaze. Forever represented as the nomadic man living a quaint life in the desert, immune to the impact of time, development, and modernity. The exotic lens which captured ‘the Other’, has shaped the global perception of the region under the same lens. And continues to shape it today.
In fact, the Bedouin community is experiencing a transitional struggle from tradition to modernity. They live in little towns on the outskirts of the desert and welcome technology. With tourism as the major source of income, most Bedouins find themselves playing the role of traditional Bedouins in order to fulfil the tourist’s expectations. In a sense, this is the role that every coming generation will fall into, and, in most cases, the only role available.
I worked in collaboration with the Bedouin men of the Wadi Rum desert, in Jordan, to create an inclusive and reflective body of work. It is a performative play with the viewer’s vision of the man, the desert and the relationship between both. The Bedouins are seen performing within the frame, either losing themselves into the landscape or returning the gaze to the viewer. This dance within the landscape, hopes to emphasize the performative role that plays into most aspects of the tourism industry.
In fact, the Bedouin community is experiencing a transitional struggle from tradition to modernity. They live in little towns on the outskirts of the desert and welcome technology. With tourism as the major source of income, most Bedouins find themselves playing the role of traditional Bedouins in order to fulfil the tourist’s expectations. In a sense, this is the role that every coming generation will fall into, and, in most cases, the only role available.
I worked in collaboration with the Bedouin men of the Wadi Rum desert, in Jordan, to create an inclusive and reflective body of work. It is a performative play with the viewer’s vision of the man, the desert and the relationship between both. The Bedouins are seen performing within the frame, either losing themselves into the landscape or returning the gaze to the viewer. This dance within the landscape, hopes to emphasize the performative role that plays into most aspects of the tourism industry.
The result will be the self-generation of sensations and essences of one’s own being, without my invisible being there will be no existence, and without experience we will not know of the existence of the unconscious. The space itself disappears, but it is there. From a constant emptiness, create an intense and deep sensation to enter into our own nothingness and the nothingness that surrounds us.
