Inspired by the ‘kitsch pop Surrealism’ of American photographer, David LaChapelle, and the fashion photography of Herb Ritts, photographer Nour El Khazen views photography as a way of ‘creating imaginary scenarios that shock.’ The featured lot depicts a pairing of the violent with the erotic, suggesting a build up of energy as well as an impending release. El Khazen cleverly builds on contrasts in this work, the ‘V’ of a woman’s cleavage in the lower half of the work mirrors the ‘V’ created by the woman’s upward pointing chin. In the top half of the work our gaze is directed upwards and out of the frame of the photograph, imploring us to imagine the moment after the photograph. Whereas looking below, the rush of the pent-up contained within the woman is evident, just as an explosion is contained within the grenade in her hand, ready for take off. Proprietor of a photography studio in Beirut, Nour El Khazen has a diverse practice ranging from fine art photography to commercial editorial projects. She received a degree in Audio and Visual Arts at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts (ALBA), Beirut, and has studied graphic design in Los Angeles, painting at the Art Student League in New York, fashion communication at the Instituto di Design, Milan and photography at Concordia University, Montreal.