An exhibition of 'Turn and Take Your Journey' by the artists Chris Coekin and Noel Nasr.

The emphasis of the project, Turn and Take Your Journey, is the appropriation and investigation of a photographic archive Coekin acquired from eBay. The archive was produced in 1973 by an elderly American couple known only as Bob and Ann. It appears that they visited Lebanon as tourists and took the opportunity to visit various locations. The archive is a curious mix of vernacular images that capture the Lebanese landscape including; the urban, domestic and the exotic. The images offer an insight into a country that was on the eve of civil war. The archive is unique in that the images were produced with a basic stereo camera. Two photographs were produced simultaneously, from two separate lenses resulting in two images from the
same viewpoint.

In 2016, the artists Chris Coekin and Noel Nasr collaborated and re-traced the footsteps of the tourists, re-visiting the same locations they photographed back in 1973. Effectively, taking on the role of geographical investigators they painstakingly pieced together the original journey and route. Clearly, over the years some of the locations have changed dramatically but many are still recognisable. Their contemporary images attempt to appropriate the same visual perspective as the tourists, capturing the equivalent mundane street views, portraits, and ancient temples. As with the original film the two final images are overlaid together to form one final image. The results, born out of an objective task, offer altering viewpoints and an out of sync view. The visually appealing aesthetic represents the artists ambitious but flawed attempt to faithfully record the same image whilst engaging the viewer in a unique and intriguing story.