Randa Mirza

Randa Mirza is a visual artist born in Beirut in 1978, and based in Lebanon. She works with digital photography and live video editing. Her work essentially focuses on wars and postwar situations; what is shown and hidden during warfare, but also what remains, transforms or changes, gets forgotten, or disappears after a conflict. Randa has recently won the gold medal in photography during the 5 th Francophone Games in Niger (Dec 2005), and the No Limit Award at les Rencontres Photographiques d'Arles in France (July 2006).

"Self Portrait With Remote Control"

What is more horrifying; the reality of children dying or watching these deaths on TV?

After terrifying TV reports, we - as " passive spectators of the pain of others" - are invited to watch the prime time movie programmers have previously prepared for us. Media do not mourn the dead. They are treated as facts and news...and the next day, they become images and archives.

This photograph is a " lie ", but does this make it any less truthful a statement regarding the violence of war? By taking this picture from the category of news to the one of the arts, how long can I make it endure?