Media Culture

Toufic Chamoun witnessed the rise in the importance of media during his life in the U.S., where he experienced the transition from silent films to the “talkies”, and the incredible impact it had on the entertainment industry and on society at large. 

The American celebrity culture of the time had an important place in his home— movie stars where the benchmarks of beauty, elegance, and style. He himself was a very handsome man, and his wife Marie a tall and elegant woman. The eight children they had and specifically the four girls were beautiful. They were adored and cajoled by their father and would be likened to the movie stars of their time.

This was the era where being formal was the code of behaviour, women never appeared without their public face-on and dressed to the nines. Toufic Chamoun was reputed to be extremely well-dressed at all times, and was a habitual client of the best tailors in Tripoli and Beirut. 

The strongest memory his children have is one where he is impeccably dressed in beautiful tailor-made suits, of fine Italian fabrics. They recall never having seen him in his pyjamas because he would get dressed immediately when he awoke. They also recall his trips to Europe and the fashions he would bring back to the girls in the household.

His wife Marie loved the actors of the era such as Greta Garbo, Marlena Dietrich and Rudolph Valentino— her personal favourite, thus naming her third son Rodolphe who became a sculptor. On a weekly basis in the late 1950s, he would take the entire family to the movies to watch Marilyn Monroe—his favourite actress, to the dismay of his wife who greatly disliked her.

The Television

In the mid 1950s, he looked forward to  the arrival of television in Lebanon. From radios as the sole form of communication, to television’s birthplace in the living room, he eagerly awaited the infrastructure required to operate a television in his home in Tripoli. In 1959, his wife and children all sat around to watch the first broadcast. This launched his lifelong interest in television, as he would populate his homes with television sets to be used for different purposes by his children and by himself.

He had televisions with individual VHF and UHF antennas, allowing him to receive several TV channels in the area, considered a major accomplishment of the time. 

Of these channels, Toufic Chamoun’s home was able to access 4 different channels, in French, English, and Arabic, one of them being TéléLiban, the very first Lebanese channel.

In the late 60s, he started using black and white camcorders and video recorders, adapting to the advancements in technology. He would then go on to shoot personal content and buy films in that format. While he enjoyed watching the big screen he was however, more enthusiastic about what was happening behind the scenes—the making-of was of greater interest to him and would satisfy his curiosity for the remainder of his life.

The Video

In the early 70s, it became evident that Hasroun could only serve as a summer home given its elevation and climate. Toufic Chamoun decided that the family needed a  home in close proximity to Beirut and the factory on Corniche El Naher. He decided to build a villa in Mar Chaaya, Broummana. This was a very different setting than Hasroun, a much milder climate, and surrounded by majestic pine trees. 

He dedicated the entire second floor as a home theatre. This became his personal space where he would spend most of his time embracing his passion for the media culture.

He designed the home theatre in a very advanced manner with sound distribution in different parts of the house using state of the art electronics. In essence, he created an audio-visual studio which allowed him to play several programs, shows and sound stations separately, yet all at once, and from different sources. Moreover, most of the equipment he had installed were custom ordered and created and thus featured his personal Logo “T. Chamoun Made in Lebanon”.

His 8mm cinematic cameras and editing tools were used to explore different media and create family vignettes. The home theatre and array of televisions and projectors were also used to watch different kinds of films including ones which were being projected in cinemas. 

Photography

His ongoing trips to Europe and in particular to Germany would familiarize him with the rise of photography culture, driven by the Leica company and camera. He began to immerse himself in this medium, not as an artist but as an engineer. He was enamoured with these cameras and would, over the years, collect all the models and dissect their design and capabilities. His children all have an imprint in their mind of entire armoires dedicated to Leica cameras and their many parts. These were generally off limit unless you had genuine knowledge and interest.

His eldest son Michel  had his own darkroom, and in essence became the family photographer. If Michel was interested in a subject, person or  event, then there are photos which recorded that memory.

His love of this medium was unique, and his fascination with the behind the scenes would occupy his mind for years to come.