In Beirut, a photographer’s frozen moments slow down time and allow the contemplation of destruction

We watch video aft video, consuming nan world connected our handheld devices successful bites of 2 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, 15. We move to moving pictures — “film” — because it comes nan closest to approximating nan world that we spot and experience. This is, aft all, 2024, and video successful our pouch — ours, others’, everyone’s — has go our birthright.

But sometimes — moreover successful this era of unrecorded video ever rolling, ever recording, ever capturing — sometimes nan stiff infinitesimal tin entranceway nan oculus for illustration thing else. And successful nan process, it tin show a larger communicative that echoes agelong aft nan infinitesimal was captured. That’s what happened this past week successful Beirut, through nan camera lens of Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein and nan photographs he captured.

When Hussein group up his camera extracurricular an evacuated Beirut flat building Tuesday aft Israel announced it would beryllium targeted arsenic portion of military operations against Hezbollah, he had 1 extremity successful mind — only one. “All I thought of,” he says, “was photographing nan rocket while it was coming down.”

He recovered a safe spot. He ensured a bully angle. He wasn’t stressed, he said; for illustration galore photographers who activity successful specified environments, he had been successful situations for illustration this 1 before. He was ready.

A explosive dropped from an Israeli pitchy hits a building successful Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A explosive dropped from an Israeli pitchy hits a building successful Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People duck down arsenic a explosive dropped from an Israeli pitchy hits a building successful Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

When nan onslaught came — a bomb, not a rocket successful nan extremity — Hussein swung into action. And, unsurprisingly for a master who has been doing this activity for 2 decades, he did precisely what he group retired to do.

Time slowed down

The series of images he made bursts pinch nan explosive power of its taxable matter.

In 1 frame, nan explosive hangs there, a weird and obtrusive interloper successful nan scene. It is not yet noticed by anyone astir it, fresh to bring its demolition to a building that, successful moments, will nary longer exist. The building’s balconies, a split-second from nonexistence, are devoid of group arsenic nan explosive finds its mark.

These are nan benignant of moments that video, rolling astatine nan velocity of life aliases moreover successful slow motion, cannot seizure successful nan aforesaid way. A photograph holds america successful nan scene, stops time, invites a spectator to return nan astir chaotic of events and break it down, looking astir and noticing things successful a strangely silent measurement that existent life could not.

A explosive dropped from an Israeli pitchy hits a building successful Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A explosive dropped from an Israeli pitchy hits a building successful Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

In different frame, 1 that happened micromoments aft nan first, nan building is successful nan process of exploding. Let’s repetition that for effect, since moreover arsenic precocious arsenic a mates generations agone photographs for illustration this were rare: successful nan process of exploding.

Pieces of building are shooting retired successful each directions, successful precocious velocity — successful existent life. But successful nan image they are frozen, outward bound, hanging successful abstraction awaiting nan adjacent seconds of their dissolution — conscionable for illustration nan explosive that displaced them was doing milliseconds before. And successful that, a contemplation of nan demolition — and nan group it was visited upon — becomes possible.

Tech gives america caller prisms to spot nan world

The exertion to drawback truthful galore images successful nan people of small much than 1 2nd — and do it successful specified clarity and precocious solution — is hardly a procreation old.

So to spot these “stills,” arsenic journalists telephone them, travel together to overgarment a image of an arena is simply a operation of artistry, intrepidity and exertion — an workout successful freezing time, and successful giving group nan opportunity to contemplate for minutes, moreover hours, what took spot successful specified seconds. This holds existent for affirmative things that nan camera captures — and for visitations of unit for illustration this 1 arsenic well.

People respond arsenic fume rises from a building that was deed by an Israeli rocket successful Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises from a building that was deed by an Israeli airstrike successful Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Photography is random access. We, nan viewers of it, take really to spot it, process it, digest it. We spell backward and guardant successful time, astatine will. We power nan gait and nan velocity astatine which dizzying images hurtle astatine us. And successful that process, thing different for this era emerges: a spot of clip to think.

That, among galore different things, is nan enduring powerfulness of nan still image successful a moving-picture world — and nan powerfulness of what Bilal Hussein captured connected that clear, sunny time successful Beirut.

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Ted Anthony is nan head of caller storytelling and newsroom invention for The Associated Press. Follow him astatine http://x.com/anthonyted