At a time when images are created, shared and consumed almost instantaneously, Habib Fadel has chosen a practice defined by patience, precision and the work of the hand. Every photograph is the result of a fully analogue process, from large-format camera to darkroom development and platinum-palladium printing. This meticulous craftsmanship lies at the heart of his work.

Developed in the nineteenth century, the platinum-palladium process is celebrated for its rich tonal range, velvety blacks and exceptional archival permanence. In Habib Fadel's hands, it lends each print a singular presence. The texture of the paper, the quality of the light and the subtle variations inherent to each print become integral elements of the image itself.

Such close attention to the making of the photograph naturally brings his practice into dialogue with painting. Every stage of the process requires time and precision, allowing space for observation, patience and a carefully honed gesture. Photography is no longer a simple record of reality, but a deliberately crafted image.

Quiet landscapes, still lifes and fragments of the natural world form a deliberately restrained body of work. Rather than seeking the spectacular, Habib Fadel is drawn to shifting light, subtle textures and the rhythms of nature, revealing their quiet impermanence. His photographs invite contemplation, where silence becomes as present as the subject itself.

His work continues the tradition of photographers committed to preserving historic printing processes while maintaining a close dialogue with painting. Composition, tonal harmony, the quality of light and a profound sensitivity to materiality all speak to an approach in which technique is never an end in itself, but the means to achieve a remarkable clarity of vision.

Although his life has been marked by displacement, loss and renewal, these experiences are never illustrated directly. Instead, they surface with quiet restraint through an intimate engagement with landscape and the living world.

In an age saturated with images, Habib Fadel's work offers a slower, more deliberate way of seeing. By embracing a historic photographic process, he reminds us that time, materiality and the hand remain essential to the making of meaningful photographs.

Anne-Hélène Decaux, art historian