Inkblots, Salwa Eid’s first solo show, explores Beirut through double exposed film photos of cityscapes overlaid on anonymous portraits. The exhibition stems from the desire to invite the photographed subject to be an active agent in the construction of their own image and that of the city they inhabit.

To do so, Eid first invites the subject to her studio and captures her/his silhouette against an overexposed background. Eid then wanders around Beirut with the person in question, to whom she lends her camera to photograph her/his own perception of the city.

Each set in this carefully curated series of characters, matches with an inkblot card from the projective personality test known as the Rorschach test. Developed in the early 90s, this controversial method of measuring psychological functioning, in the context of this exhibition, serves a different purpose. Here, Inkblots attempts to bring to consciousness both the personal and the collective unconscious to characterize Beirut, a city where people and places are intimately connected.

To tell a holistic story of a defying yet charming city like Beirut is a near impossible task. Instead, Eid opted to construct an image of what Beirut is to her: the people that make it. Inkblots amounted to a kaleidoscope of overlaying perceptions raising questions about subjectivity, agency and intentionality in photography practices today.