Walid Raad was 15 years old and toting around a telephoto lens in the summer of 1982 when he shot the photographs of the Israeli attack on Beirut that are currently on display at the Henry Art Gallery.

This week, Jen Graves spoke with him about the logic of hot wars, the legitimacy of counterfeits in the context of a “surpassing disaster,” the hysterical symptoms of chronic violent attacks, and a rare neurological disorder—a perceptual talent?—in which sufferers view reality as a series of frames instead of a continuous and seamless fabric.

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More:

Jen Graves reviews Walid Raad’s Henry show.

Walid Raad’s The Atlas Group Archive, a multi-media project documenting the contemporary history of Lebanon.