PARIS.- For many years now it has been hard to tell the story of Beirut without lapsing into commonplaces. Giulio Rimondi, a young Italian photographer living and working there, has managed to avoid that risk. His images, accompanied by the verses of the elderly poet Christian Ghazi, evoke an atmosphere of intimacy and solitude that is haunted by the memory of war. There is hardly a trace here of the Beirut that's renowned for its entertainment, its wealth and its sex industry. Rimondi's photographs reveal a nocturnal, silent city, where people living at the margins are illuminated for just an instant.

"So it's no easy task to talk about or to tell the story of Beirut without lapsing into cliché. Beirut is, in fact, a source of inspiration for poets and writers everywhere. One of these was the Syrian Adunis (Ali Ahmad Said Asbar) who lived there for a long time and described it as a "non-city"; and then there's Selim Nassib, author of An Evening in Beirut, and voice of the Mediterranean man, who combines myths, poetry and essential visions..." --Renato Miracco, critique

"A nocturnal Beirut, without the whores, without the glowing neon signs, without the feasting, not even of the fake kind, not even the kind that's all an act, inhabited by men and women who are alone. The blackness that spreads out becomes like silence."--Ferdinando Scianna, photographer (Magnum)

Giulio Rimondi was born in Italy in 1984. He pursued classical studies, receiving a degree in Letters. After graduating he began to travel, driven by passion and curiosity. It was then that he began his artistic career and became increasingly involved in photography. From the very start he combined art photography with socially committed reporting, focusing in particular on the human dimension of the subject. He has contributed to international newspapers like The New York Times and La Repubblica, and to numerous other publications. He has had solo exhibitions of his work in Italy and abroad, in art galleries as well as museums. Rimondi lives in Beirut and does freelance coverage of the Middle East.