Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2015/01/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Captain William Shakespear was an officer in the Indian Army (the British army in India was a separate force from the regular British Army) who served as a political officer (a sort of diplomat and colonial administrator) in Kuwait. He traveled a lot in what is now Saudi Arabia, and photographed the people and places he visited. One of his photos is the first known photo of an Arab tribal army on the march, made during one of the wars between the al-Saud and their enemies, the al-Rashid of Ha?il in northern Arabia. If you want to see more of his work, and that of other pioneering photographers in Arabia, I?d suggest these books: http://www.amazon.com/Saudi-Arabia-Caught-Time-1861/dp/1859640907 http://www.amazon.com/Kuwait-First-Photographers-William-Facey/dp/186064271 3 I have both. Until the 1950s, Riyadh, Ha?il, Buraidah, and other towns in central Arabia were still mud-brick towns using the same architectural styles that would have been seen in ancient Babylon! Kuwait town , Mecca, Jeddah, and Medina were more modern in appearance due to their greater contact with the larger Islamic world. They looked like towns in Syria, Palestine, and Iraq did at the time. The Kuwait book is especially cool because of the many photos of traditional Arab wooden sailing vessels. The largest type, called a Baghlah, resembled European sailing ships of the 1700s. The history of the middle east has always fascinated me. Even if I were not interested in photography, these two books would still be favorites of mine. -- Chris Crawford Fine Art Photography Fort Wayne, Indiana 260-437-8990 http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com My portfolio http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798 Become a fan on Facebook On 1/17/15, 12:26 PM, "Phil Swango" <pswango at att.net> wrote: >A friend sent this interesting piece about a British photographer working >in the Arabian peninsula in the WW1 era. > >http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30796539 > > >-- >Phil Swango >307 Aliso Dr SE >Albuquerque, NM 87108 >505-262-4085 > >_______________________________________________ >Leica Users Group. >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information