In an essay here, cultural critic and curator Negar Azimi articulates a singular problem of being a photographer in the Arab Middle East. Taswir (or picture making), according to many Arab scholars, is prohibited by Muslim law, thus the "notorious adage mamnou' el taswir (forbidden to photograph) . . . Exists in ubiquitous fashion, seemingly at every turn of the photographer's visual field." Keeping that in mind makes this unprecedented and multifaceted view of the Arab world as seen through the eyes of 56 Arab and Western photographers, the only current survey of its kind, an especially stimulating collection.
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Originally assembled for the highly acclaimed exhibition Nazar at the Noorderlicht Festival in the Netherlands, these pictures comprise the largest compilation of Arab photographs ever exhibited in the West. Covering both documentary and fine art photography and ranging from North Africa to Lebanon and Palestine, from Iraq to Syria and Saudi Arabia, this book will open an often shuttered world.
The book is made up of 3 sections; “Arab Eyes” - which refers to Arabic photographers, “A Look Back” - Photographs of the Arab world from the past, some which age back to the 19th Century. In this section, the previously featured and constantly on the Fann 3arabi’s website is Foundation Arabe Pour L’Image and “Western Eyes” - which includes photographs of the Arab World taken by non-Arab photographers. This book introduces the readers to several generations of photographers (male and female) previously little known outside the Middle East. For example, Nadia Benchallal, who has assisted Annie Liebowitz and Arthur Elgort, offers black-and-white portraits of people who straddle Algerian-French culture, and Randa Shaath has recorded, from her high-rise apartment in Cairo, the lives of a shadow society of rooftop dwellers in the city.
Nazar, which means "seeing, insight, reflection" in Arabic, challenges preconceptions and reveals a complexity of Arab life not glimpsed on the nightly news.
PUBLISHED BY: Aperture
FORMAT: Hardcover, 9 x 9 in. / 268 pgs / 168 color / 132 duotone.
ISBN: 9781931788854 ISBN10: 1931788855
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/15/2005