Ara Madzounian’s “Birds Nest” cover
LOS ANGELES—Independent producer, director and cinematographer Ara Madzounian’s “Birds Nest,” a photographic essay capturing the soul of Bourj Hammoud, will be available for online purchase in November.
Birds Nest has been Madzounian’s passion project for the past seven years and is the culmination of his laborious and emotional work Bourj Hammoud, his birthplace, a Beirut suburb which became home away from home for many displaced Armenians.
Dr. Talar Chahinian comments on Madzounian’s work in her review “Bourj Hammoud as a Palimpsest of Culture in Ara Madzounian’s ‘Birds Nest,’” saying that his “photographs in ‘Birds’ Nest’ function as palimpsests, revealing in the forefront as much as they do in the hidden layers underneath. They document Bourj Hammoud’s capacity to rewrite itself with the ebb and flow of migration and in keeping up with the times as well as holding onto tradition. The work is an important archive of a district that has played a key role in the making of the Armenian diaspora’s narrative.”
“I photographed the many faces of Bourj Hammoud in an attempt to capture the city’s essence, to preserve the place I know and love before it grows old and fades in to just a memory,” said Madzounian.
“My intimate relationships with its narrow streets, the sights and sounds, and its peculiar characters have all been an important source of inspiration all my life.”
Birds Nest is currently available online to pre-order.
Source: Asbarez
Link: Ara Madzounian’s Photo Essay ‘Birds Nest’ Available in November