Nighthawks

After the 2006 war, Lebanon's social and political climate was unstable. Public space – from the media to the street – was permeated by fear and paranoia. For a generation of Beirut's young residents, the night became the ultimate free space. They met one another during decadent underground parties, where everything revolved around beauty, designer clothes and sex appeal. But in Gregory Buchakjian's photos the underlying anxiety and violence is still palpable.