Instead he stood on the petrol-doused street, clutched his umbrella and prayed he would not be engulfed in flames.

The powerful image was captured by Fred McDowell's Lebanese friend, Joe Sassine, during 16 years of conflict in Lebanon.

"It is inspirational to think that he takes pictures in conditions like that," said amateur photographer Fred, of Gaskell Avenue.

"He's learned to run everywhere, but the most difficult thing for him is getting called to a job in the morning and finding his car has been blown up."

The two photographers live worlds apart, but have shared their common passion for photography since they met eight years ago.

For 16 years Beirut-born Joe worked behind bricked-up shops and had a studio in an underground car park.

But he never knew if his clients would live long enough to pay him - or if he would be killed before he'd developed his pictures.

"Running after war news is running after death continuously in the most dangerous places and ways," he said.

"When everybody is running down to the shelter you find yourself running out to be closer to the destructive subject."

But he survived - to work by candlelight and wash his pictures in a stream - by being 'skinny'.

"If you're fat in a country of war like Lebanon, you're a dead man," he said. "Fat people are easy targets. If you stop they shoot you."

Joe first met Fred, a member of Knutsford Photographic Society, in a bar during a meeting of international photographers.

Next year they hope to meet again at a photo training overseas event in Cyprus.

"There are still some places that are difficult for him to get to and he will have to fly to London and then to Cyprus," said Fred.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.