Torn, Folded, Curled is an archival publishing project developed during a residency at the Arab Image Foundation, a MENA—Middle East North Africa—photographic archive. It brings a new approach to msdm long-standing interest in orphan and vernacular photographic collections.
During the residency, different types of archival organisation in public photographic archives were investigated, as well as their translation into book structures.
Working with “torn, folded, curled” images— a term used at the Arab Image Foundation to categorise heavily damaged photographs that require special care in storage and preservation— also meant developing specific strategies to account for themes of war and memory in photobook sequencing.
Scroll book
Size when open: 24 x 94cm
Source: Arab Image Foundation/
Bayroumi Collection
Monotone laser printing on coloured paper Favin Le Cirque 80gsm
Source: Arab Image Foundation / EPS collection
Text: Elie-Pierre Sabbag, from the novel “L’Ombre d’Une Ville”
to display on a table and entertain guests
9 pages 28.5 x 40.5 cm each
85.5 x 121.5 cm assembled
29,5 x 126cm colour inkjet print folded onto 6 pages
accordion structure (29,5 x 21 cm closed)
Epson 189 gsm paper and black boards (cover)
Photographic source: Arab Image Foundation
Produced in the context of the research grant project “Torn, Folded, Curled: Sourcing from the Arab Image Foundation.” From June 22 to July 2 2015, I was in residence at the Arab Image Foundation, Beirut. This residency was supported by the Centre for Media Research (London South Bank University). The residency was primarily focused at sharing archival methodologies used by the Found Photo Foundation in its exhibitions and publications and exploring the potential of the Arab Image Foundation’s photographic collections as source for photobook publishing. With the assistance of the Arab Image Foundation staff —Hala Tawil, archivist/librarian and Charbel Saad, collections manager.
contact
paula roush ::: paularoush@gmail.com
msdm studio ::: msdm@msdm.org.uk