Catalogue > At random

In 2012, Mohamed had seen his best friend shot dead by an armed militia on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria; the blood spilled in the lake contaminated his memory. Ten years on, the reflections on the Laurentian waters revive Mohamed's trauma. I ask him if he'd like to dredge up the memories, repair the pain by retreating for a few days to the most distressing calm he can find. He talks about death, immigration and anger. We wonder how and why we should recount this story.

Samy Benammar is a filmmaker, photographer, and art critic based between Montreal and Marseille. Drawing from his Algerian roots and working-class upbringing, his work blends a reflective documentary approach with tactile experimentation. He seeks a form of visual reconciliation while underscoring the irreparable fractures left by fantasies of the past. Often hovering on the edge of disappearance, his images explore the tension between physical and imagined space, between memory, identity, and stone. He has served on the editorial boards of Hors Champ, 24 images, and Panorama-cinéma, and is currently pursuing a PhD on colonial photography in the Aurès region of Algeria.