Art is nearby
To begin with, let us ask ourselves: what is art? There are many definitions, but we will stop at this one: art is a special kind of form-creating human activity that creates figurative and symbolic structures that have aesthetic, cognitive and communicative functions. Put very simply, art is something without which it is difficult to imagine our life.
We read books, watch various kinds of films, draw, sew, embroider, take pictures, dance... the list can be continued. And all of these are types of art. But, of course, let us not confuse people who are professionally engaged in painting, dancing, cinematography and everything else with ordinary people or, as they say, amateurs. In this article, we will talk about such an art form as photography. Why photography? Now you will know.
August 19: World Photography Day
Surprisingly, photography, without which our life has become unthinkable, is only 181 years old. Let us recall history a little. On 19 August 1839, the Frenchman Louis Daguerre succeeded in creating a method for obtaining a printed image, which was called a “daguerreotype”. However, attempts to create stable photographic images were made earlier. Joseph Niepce became the author of the first photograph in 1822. Unfortunately, the picture has not survived.
Then in 1841, the English scientist and aristocrat William Henry Talbot created a method called “calotype”, which in Greek means “beautiful print”. Thus, thanks to his invention of negative-positive technology, Talbot’s name has forever entered history.
It is interesting that World Photography Day has been celebrated only since 2009. The initiator was a photographer from Australia, Corske Ara. Previously, several related dates were celebrated around the world. January 7 was the Birthday of Photography and July 12 was World Photographer’s Day.
Photography of the present day
Today, it is difficult to imagine many areas such as the media, medicine, architecture, design, forensics and many others, without the use of photography. Along with this, many photo competitions with prizes and awards are held. For example, the best photographs are awarded the famous Pulitzer Prize, which is the most prestigious award in the field of journalism in the United States.
And in everyday life, as we have already said, photography has become widespread. It has given us many advantages, allowed us to capture significant events in life, joys and even misfortunes, amazing nature in all its diversity and colors; helped to recognize the finest details, preserve and convey history and much, much more.
Muslim photographers
Peter Sanders was born in 1946 in London. He began his creative path by shooting show business stars. Over time, Sanders began to show increasing interest in the spiritual world of man. This led him to India and then to the world of Islam. Peter Sanders was a photographer who gained worldwide fame and recognition.
He is called a classic figure of London’s photography. In the book entitled “The 500 Most Influential Muslims” Sanders is described as a famous photographer who converted to Islam (aged 24). He was one of the first Europeans who managed to take pictures of Muslims performing the Hajj rituals and captured images of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in 1971.
The artist’s bright and poignant works tell people about the beauty and essence of Islam. Interestingly, Sanders is the author of the book “The Art of Integration”. It tells about the life of Muslims in Great Britain. In addition, he is the author of such publications as “Visiting the Prophet”, “In the Shadow of a Tree” and “Meetings with Mountains”.
Here is what the famous photographer says about Islam, “I have read several books that aroused in me a deep interest in spiritual values… When I returned to London, I learned that other people were interested in Islam. I noticed how my friends from the music business had changed after accepting Islam, when others had plunged into the world of drugs and so on. So, it was at that time that I received a clear direction and could compare the states of these people. When I began to think about what to do next, someone told me about Sufism. They explained to me that if you imagine the structure of Islam as a house, then Sufism (tasawwuf) is the spiritual heart, the centre of this house…”.
Orhan Durgut is a famous Turkish photographer. He began his creative path in 1977. He is the author of photographs of cities in the Islamic world. In 2019, the Imam Bukhari International Research Centre (Samarkand region of Uzbekistan) hosted a photo exhibition dedicated to al-Bukhari’s work “Sahih al-Bukhari”. The exhibition “Islamic Cities of the World” featured 60 photographs by Orhan Durgut. The artist has demonstrated the cultural heritage of Islam through his creative work in cities such as Mecca, Medina, Basra, Baghdad, Kufa, Ascalon, Qaisariya, etc. Earlier, Durgut began working on a project in which he prepared a photo album about Mecca.
During this project, Sanders took unique panoramic photographs that captured the changes in the city. In one of his interviews, Durgut said that Mecca began to change rapidly in 2006, and noted, “From that time until today, I have created an archive of photographs of Mecca from 100 thousand photographs and this project will continue until 2020.”
Marwan Bassiouni is a native of Switzerland with Egyptian and American roots. He moved to the Netherlands about five years ago to study photography at the Royal Academy of Arts. Bassiouni has always been interested in his own origins and multiculturalism. He gives an important place to the dialogue between Islam and Europe. And, naturally, Bassiouni reflected his worldview in a photo project called “New Dutch Views”.
To create a series of landscape photographs, Bassiouni visited more than 70 mosques in the Netherlands. The photo artist showed real “interiors” in combination with a view from the mosque. Answering journalists’ questions about his project, he said: “Many people have a very clear and specific image of Islam in their heads, and I wanted to challenge it by showing something Muslim, but challenging our preconceived thoughts. That is how the project began. Islam is not as cruel as people think; it is diverse and multicultural.”
Carlos Khalil Guzman is a famous American photographer. Guzman was born in Brooklyn. Raised in a Catholic family, Carlos Khalil Guzman made the decision to become an adherent of Islam. In 2019, he released the work of his project “Muslim Women Living in the USA”. He spent two years creating the photographs. The author signed each portrait with verses from the Holy Scripture, the Koran.
The main goal of this project was the desire to introduce Americans to the cultural values of Islam and rid them of imposed xenophobic sentiments. Guzman once said in an interview: “This photo project is dedicated to all Muslims. Each photo is a story of a girl. I wanted their voices to be heard. For everyone to see the beauty of girls with or without hijabs. Let us fight Islamophobia together.”
