Human Flower Project

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Another Lebanon

A doctor in Northern Lebanon shares the glory of his country with an unreliable world.

Gina Ghanem El Nabbout, and roses

Photo: Sassine El Nabbout

Did you think Lebanon was a country of dusty roads and Jeeps?

Sassine Michel El Nabbout, a doctor in Northern Lebanon, knows a very different land, and now we do too. Sassine’s portfolio at Webshots is a trove of Lebanese landscapes, people and flowers, all conveyed with a light, energetic touch. One collection shows nothing but roses, another wildflowers and another the landscape of Aadbel, pearl-pink with blooming almond trees. For you gardeners, there is also an album of flowers from Sassine’s own village: “Each one of them means something to me,” he writes, “& I know each one of them separately. I love them as people, so enjoy this love with me.”

We can’t recall hearing a physician speak or write like that.

Spring wildflowers, Lebanon

Photo: Sassine El Nabbout

Flowers abound at a cousin’s recent wedding. Country trails sparkle, and in the Becharri we see the giant old cedars that inspired the Lebanese flag.

How does he manage all this, and see patients, too? Sassine also has a blog, which in the past week mixes sunsets and demonstrations, parables and videos.

“From Me to U” in the Gebrayal Forest, Lebanon

Photo: Sassine El Nabbout

Perhaps Dr. EL Nabbout’s most overt Human Flower Project is his group of blossom-pictures each dedicated to someone elsewhere in the world. “To The Memory Of Lebanon In Canada, Cyboura Akl “…“For The Eye Of Slovenia, Stanko”…“To The Friend Who Shares With Me The Love Of Peace, Uriah Yaniv.”

Thank you, Sassine, photographer and healer.