“Planet Japan” was presented by Saër Melhem Karam in the form of two complementary structures. Here, photography, the substance of the message was delivered to us through the image; that is, the forms, lines, masses, colors, light and shade; there, the text, the substance of the message, was delivered in words and in three languages: French, English, Arabic.

In their ensemble the photographs reflect a fascination with contemporary Japan, which is less than 50 years old and where tradition and modernity coexist together, equitably and harmoniously. At the same time, they reveal a very personal approach to the image, which becomes at once document and symbol, where representation of sites, spaces, places, streets… is linked to the notion of “time”. Everywhere, it is Saër Karam’s manner of seeing which prevails. He has, thanks to a sure talent, been able to develop a very personal style and to bring a creative spirit to the art of photography. A perfect mastery of the diverse techniques of the photographic art has enabled him to achieve a great variety of images -- (ensemble views or intimate close-ups) -- at once “desired” and “unsurpassable” in their documentary value and plastic qualities. Not only does Saër Karam excel in the art of seizing the fleeting effect but also often he confronts the difficulty of taking photographs in spaces relatively static or particularly animated, according to arbitrary viewpoints, at a given moment of the day or night, particularly interesting, the one where the plays of light and shade create effects of contrast, subtle or violent as the case may be, and this to give the image all its expressive force.

An intelligible and artistic portrayal of Japan
Each time, Saër Karam has, through his lens, grasped an instant of life, registering the emotional shock felt at a precise moment. And each time, the photos give us an intelligible and artistic portrayal of the Japan of today, where the symbols of traditional civilization mingle felicitously with the symbols of modernity, emphasizing the contrast.
In compressing the signs of historic temporality, he has produced dialectical images where the past is crystallized in the present. His attitude is that of a traveler exploring Japan whose objective is not to reproduce post card impressions, but images in which the Japan of today, with all its contrasts, is apprehended in all its psychic, physical, organic, architectural and socio-cultural complexities.

Here, the image is infinitely better equipped than the text, in that it conveys the maximum of meaning in the minimum of time. Everything achieved is the result of meticulous attention which is mindful that the proper significance of elements, beings and things should be maintained, but which at the same time gives them a symbolic and esthetic import.
For Saër Karam, photography is not the “mechanical” reproduction of what his eye sees, but the “pictural” transposition of what his mind feels, where art and imagination play a primordial role. His is a talent that will come increasingly to enjoy public recognition.

Nicole Malhamé Harfouche