Beiruting - Life Style Blog - Beiruting Interview with Elio Sassine
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Beiruting Interview with Elio Sassine
(What's up ?) 5 years ago

1. Can you tell us a little bit about your professional background?

I am a psychiatrist and I practice in Lebanon since 1995. I'm married and have three grown-up children.

For the last couple of years, I've developed a passion for aerial photography by drones, hence the publication of this book.

I'm additionally the vice-president of an NGO called APEG, which I will talk about later on.

 

 

2. How do you find a balance between your life as a photographer and your everyday life ? Is there a relation between those two professions ?

I wouldn't say I have the life of a photographer. I do aerial photography as a hobby. I would like to give it more time but this won't be possible for me at the moment.

 

 

3. How did you get interested in photography about nature in general and in the themes you like to focus on ?

I've always loved nature and hiking which to me are both an escape from daily-life and a way for us to take a moment of reflection -in the etymological sense of the term-and the opportunity to recharge ourselves and get our energy back to the fullest. In recent years I've combined a second hobby to my first one, which is aerial photography by drones.

 

 

4. For every photo of this book what enthralled you the most in choosing your subject ?

The thing that enthralled me the most was to wander freely in nature and enjoy yourself fully. If the landscapes are beautiful, that's even better! I'm also drawn by ruins which I find particularly romantic and photogenic. Whether it be antique archaeological ruins or more recent ruins, like those of silk farms or houses destroyed during the civil war.

 

 

5. What experiences have you lived ?

Mostly fascinating human experiences ; making a drone fly in the sky will inevitably attract curious people who will want to know what you're doing. Everywhere I've been, I've always met kind and incredibly generous people. In a way this is a bit the aim of this book : encouraging the Lebanese to explore beyond their regions, not only to discover new landscapes but also to go meet other fellow citizens they often think are "different" when they actually are a lot like them.

 

 

6. Does being edited have a special meaning to you ?

Besides the fact of sharing beautiful pictures with so many people and encouraging the Lebanese to go out more, this book will help publicise APEG and to which all the sales revenue from the book will go to.

 

 

7. Whether it be through day-to-day actions in your professional or personal life, can you give us examples of what you do when it comes to ecology ?

I do what everybody should be doing: recycling the garbage, saving water and electricity, trying not to pollute the environment at all or as little as possible.

 

 

8. Do you talk about APEG, the association you support ?

The association for the protection of children of the war is an NGO founded in 1996 after the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon and the massacre of Qana. This association is aiming to create clinics for free mental health in regions where these services do not exist. So we offer consultations and psychiatric and psychological care to children but also to adults in the centres in Beirut, Nabatiyah, Tyre, Marjayoun, Zahle and Baalbek. It must be said that despite the association's name our services are destined as much to children as to adults and cover all mental pathologies, not just pathologies caused by war.

Myrna Gannagé is the president of APEG and I'm it's vice-president.

 

 

9. Do you have any current projects you would like to present to your readers ?

For the moment I'm focusing on the release of the book. If a large public likes it, I might consider starting another one, since I still have many photos left and there are still many regions I would like to fly over.

 

 

10. Where can we find the book?

The book is sold in most libraries in Lebanon starting November 29.

 

 

 


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