George Azar, a Middle Eastern photojournalist, spoke to the Sacramento State community on Monday, Nov. 6, in the Redwood Room of the University Union. Azar is an Arab-American and has captured almost twenty year?s worth of photographs of the Middle East in the news media.

Azar has worked for many well know publications such as Newsweek, Mother Jones and The New York Times and has lived in Beirut for a short period of time while capturing moments of war, life and the natives in the area. CSUS has been in the process of reaching Azar to present his “diary of photos” since the spring semester.

“Photography is about light, vision and time. It is about freezing something- a moment in time. This collection is a personal experience that I am sharing, in a way, it is like my photographic diary,” Azar said to his audience prior to his presentation of slides.

Azar commented that there is not a fair representation of Arabs and Islam in the American mass media today and that many of the photographs taken throughout his journey did not hit the newsstands and did not impress editors much. Azar also believes that the media presents Arabs and Islamic religion in a “bad” light.

Azar caught the collapse of two apartment buildings on film. He captured the explosion of the apartment structures in Beirut as he watched the Israelis launch upon the city. This was the first of the many photographs shown to the audience. Azar was only 22 years old when he lived in Beirut on assignment.

“I would send my editors the roles of film from my location and barely any of it would make the news. It was disappointing,” Azar said. “The killings don?t stop the rebellion, or the quest for freedom. The Palestinians have been fighting alone for a long time, without any foreign support and against a strong militia.”

Azar?s photos included images of Yasser Arafat, children as young as 13 fighting, families with homes destroyed, and school children among the many.

After he got back from the Middle East, he took some time off of the subject. Azar started photographing various topics such as love, punk clubs in San Francisco and other genres that would catch his interest.

“I needed to get my mind off of what I saw those past years abroad and I needed to take pictures of things I enjoyed,” Azar said.

Among his travels, Azar has also published a book called Palestine: A Photographic Journey. His book consists of various pictures taken on his journeys to the land. “I have some beautiful, peaceful pictures in there as well, for I wanted to show the beauty of the land as well as what was really going on.”

Azar was born to Lebanese immigrant parents in Philadelphia and attended school at UC Berkeley, majoring in political science. Azar continued his education when he got accepted to Georgetown University?s School of Diplomacy. During his schooling, Azar also had an emphasis on Middle Eastern studies. Azar?s book is available in the library.