Yvonne and Edmond in Beirut: Four photos, two stories. Which do you want to believe?

In the album where their photos were carefully stored, our lovers left us a location and a date in white pencil. A feminine handwriting whispers: Beirut, 1935. Lebanon was then at the height of the French Mandate, and the local elite could afford innocent breaches of propriety. The only concession to public opinion is that the photos in this article were never printed. I found only the negatives, kept in a grandmother’s box that accompanied the album in question. These images were being seen now, for the first time.It is an ordinary, almost monastic room, with a narrow bed, a small table covered in white linen, cups, a glass, possibly a teapot. Two electric wires descend from the ceiling inside cable channels, reminding us that electricity here is a recent, still visible, still surprising addition. A massive wardrobe silently watches...