 Munir
Nasr Artists'
Biography:
Date of birth: Feb 1943
Nationality: Lebanese
Languages: English, Arabic
Art Education Studies:
Art and Graphics : Guvder School of Art. Beirut
Photography: (By correspondence) Modern Photography USA
Video and Editing: Crosswind Films ltd. London, UK
Awards:
Japan:
Medal, from UNESCO/ACCU
World Photo Contest-theme “The Family”
9.117 entries from 133 countries
UK:
Special Merit Certificate, from the British
Industrial Film Association, London
Japan:
Seiko Corporation Prize “Living Together”
Lebanon:
First prize from “Oscar photographia 99”. Signed by Ministry of
Tourism
Occupation: 1997 – Today “Lebanon” Free Lance Photographer
November 2004 - Published
‘Lebanon through the lens of munir nasr’
A 128 page photo book including 300 photographs depicting the beauty
and natural wonders of ancient and modern Lebanon.
Reprinted six times in English and twice in French within 32 months
awarded it the title best seller by the ministry of tourism according
to Librairie Antoine statistics. Now also available in Arabic, German,
Spanish, and Italian.
.
March 1999 - Published
‘Liban Village du Ciel’
A 100 page photo book worked on with Father Mansour Labaki in which
the photos were taken specifically to match the text written by
him.
One of my photographs was selected to memorize the Nobel Peace Prize
2001 given to the United Nations.
Published a series of greeting
and post cards.
Held photo exhibition at the French cultural center. Supported by
the ministry of education and the French ambassador.
Worked for the ministry of tourism, many of my photos were printed
as posters, calendars, books, etc.
Worked for several advertising companies and human organizations
such as the SOS children Villages and Auxilia.
1978 – 1997 “ Vienna Austria “
Photographer/ Designer for the UN
Responsible for photography taken and designing: Posters, Annual
Reports, News Letters, All kinds of Brochures and publications,
Exhibitions etc.
Hundreds of my photographs taken for the UN where exhibited and
published all over the world. Permanent photo exhibitions were held
at the Vienna Austria Centre.
Article:
Simplicity is a Strength by Munir Nasr
My name is Munir
Nasr I am a Lebanese photographer. I believe that simplicity is
strength. I am so in my life with my family members, friends and
I am so in my photos when possible. Besides simplicity in my photos,
I always have a center of interest, for example when taking a general
view scene I try to have an interesting element in the foreground,
wait for a nice sunset or work on a special type of lighting.
When people
see nice photographs many of them don’t realize how much effort
went into taking them. Sometimes I return to the same location several
times in order to take the picture with the perfect lighting or
wait a few hours with the camera on the tripod till the sun rises
or falls to just the right place in the photo.
It is in all
my portrait pictures that my main concentration is on the eyes.
I believe I was lucky to have worked as a photographer for United
Nations covering many subjects, my favorite being humanitarian topics
for NGO’s along with the UN. Taking pictures of children, especially
children of the Middle East with their black eyes always fascinated
me.
The subject
of the photo in my opinion is very important. A photo that tells
a story is a successful photo, it is one that people will remember
and like to keep. In this case it is not the camera, but the man
behind the camera who knows the subject and can take the photo accordingly
at the right time. In my daily life I look at things and people
as if I am looking through the camera view finder and many times
I wished I had the film behind my eye to capture specific expressions
or views.
I have been
awarded several international prizes and several articles have been
written about my book and photo exhibitions. My deep thank you goes
to all of them, but it is a small comment from an ordinary viewer,
reader or an email with feedback that touches my heart much deeper.
Upon my final
return to Lebanon after having worked with the UN for twenty years
in Vienna I started rebuilding my photo library since it was all
lost during the war in Lebanon. In addition to this, I’ve worked
with advertising agencies and on several photo projects in addition
to some donation work for a few Lebanese humanitarian organizations.
“Liban, Village
du ciel” was my first photo-book outside the UN in which I took
the photos specifically to match father Mansoun Labakys’ beautifully
written text.
It received very positive feedback from various highly political
and cultural personalities including Pope Jean Paul II and heads
of states from around the world. Father Labaky and I have just started
planning a new audio visual production together which will be completed
by mid 2008.
My main piece
of work in Lebanon has been my photo-book titled “LEBANON, through
the lens of munir nasr” in 2005. The first edition was in English,
which has so far been updated and reprinted 5 times. Today, the
book is available in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and
the Arabic version which will be on the market soon is still in
progress.
The text was written by Ms. Angelique Beaino, the foreword by Mr.
Henry Zoghaib and the layout was done by Mrs. Mireille Nasr Aoun
(my daughter).
The feedback from around the world was truly impressive and I am
very proud of it.
Arramoun Oak
Tree
►► Some
of the artist's artwork
►►
Meet
the artist in Art Direct Sale!
Contact: munirnasr1@yahoo.com
Online Portfolio: munirnasr.com
Phone: 00 961 3 813450
P.O.Box: 90-1970 Beirut Lebanon
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