Jnoub, Arabic for South, is a selection of images taken in the South of Lebanon. Lebanon has an expansive diaspora outside the country, estimated at 14 million people worldwide, with only an estimated population of 4 million Lebanese and 2 million Palestinian and Syrian refugees within the country. Many diaspora take it upon themselves to visit their extended family and homeland when they can, with many of them building homes in their family villages. 

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Buying land was a popular market in the mid 1800's to early 1900's, in which many citizens bought different plots of land next to their relatives to keep close. This land was then passed down to future generations in the original buyer's will. The land continues to belong within the family and can only be purchased by a non-relative if the entire immediate family agree; some may disagree as they would prefer not to live next door to someone unrelated. 

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With later generations building houses for their own families, I found the difference in materials and architecture to be interesting. What you see on the left is a 2018 new build, the middle is a roof top of a 1973 build and the right is a kitchen in a 1937 build. Houses, like the 1937 build, were initially built with large stone bricks and slabs. They then moved forward in to using cement, as seen within the 1973 build. However, new builds such as the 2018 build have had a mixture of materials used, making use of limestone, granite and various aggregates; with design being a fore-focus, certain materials are used to achieve different designs. 

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