The Distance Is Always Other
Chris Coekin & Noel Nasr
The Distance is Always Other is a collaborative project between Lebanese photographer Noel Nasr and British photographer Chris Coekin. The book, designed by renowned artist Reza Abedini, includes a text by writer Fadi Tofeili.
An artistic exploration grounded in archival documentation, The Distance Is Always Other highlights the socio-geographical transformations in Lebanon over the past forty years.
The book is accompanied with a custom-made mini-viewer and custom reel. The box in which the book and mini viewer are presented is in the shape of a camera bag, alluding to the photographic journey and produces an interactive experience where one wears, holds, scrutinizes, reads, and narrates their own version of the story.
About The Artists
Chris Coekin was born in Leicester and is now based in London. His work is predominantly concerned with contemporary British culture. His work is frequently based upon personal experiences and is often collaborative. He works mainly with photography and often combines, text, ephemera, audio and archival imagery within his projects.His work has been exhibited widely including shows at: The Photographers’ Gallery London, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Belfast Exposed, Foam Museum Amsterdam, People’s History Museum Manchester, Stephen Bulger Gallery Canada. He has had solo shows at the Lodz Festival Poland, the Orange Festival and the Dali International Photography Festival China.
Noel Nasr is a Lebanese photographer based in Beirut. His projects are mostly inspired from his daily life experiences and are often for therapeutic motives.His work was shown at Umam, Maqam Gallery, Sursock Museum and Beit Beirut. Noel holds an M.A. in Photography from the University of Kent and an M.F.A. in Photography from the University of Ulster. He is currently and Assistant professor and the coordinator of the Photography Program at Notre Dame University-Louaizé (NDU).
Fadi Tofeili is an author, poet and Lebanese translator. He is the co-founder and chief editor of Portal 9: Histories and Critics of the city (portal9journal.org). He studied interior design in the Lebanese University and got a master in American Studies from Amsterdam University. His writings were published in Lebanon since the 90s in different publications. He is the writer of three poetry books and of many translations into Arabic. His latest book, Iqtifa’ Athar, was published by Ashkal Alwan in 2014.
The Distance Is Always Other – Chris Coekin & Noel Nasr, 2018
