Collecting the Film, Washington, 2009

Just came back from Washington, D.C. with the film from my latest visit to Lebanon. There are those that will question the use of film today?

There are others that will wonder as to the distance traveled for a good lab?

There are still others that wonder about the underlying value of the work?

Upon my return and seeing this single image, all would be worth it if just for this image.

She is an Arab living in Lebanon, with her home in Syria. She and her sisters work in the fields of Lebanon picking vegetables for less than $2 per day, for perhaps ten to twelve hours. When she returns home, a different kind of work begins.

Her work never ends.

So to drive twelve hours means infinitely less than what she goes through on a daily basis. The above questions fade away as her image comes into view.