Jamie's Fantastic Fish Pie

Y photo!

Issue 77 (October 2010) of the journal Qantara devotes a large file of about thirty pages to " The photo in the Arab world . This study is primarily historical perspective. The rich and varied contents of this issue can be found here

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The editorial of this magazine Arab and Mediterranean cultures speaks of two ages of photography:
"Since its invention, photography travel and is found in the Middle East, particularly in Jerusalem and Egypt. Any improvements that bring him successive European inventors are reflected immediately on the spot, as evidenced by the quality of shots year after year. Before the late nineteenth century, studios are opening in big cities on the initiative of European or indigenous. The topics they present on the film set around the same progression, to well-defined themes of the postcard. It is this early history is recounted in the record of this number, without pretending to as exhaustive. Funds suspected of wealth hardly have been little studied, except by a handful of researchers.

And then, our inquiry stops too early, the first age of photography. If its use by the new middle class is mentioned, nothing is said about the press or politics. Probably discover there be an evolution that is not so different from Europe since the thirties to photograph the highlights of the private and social life becomes more democratic as the devices become available, we put in scene social life and politics, and of course we shall use the photo for purposes of political propaganda.

Another "kind" that is growing doubt in the Arab countries is the artistic photo. Came later, at least in terms of social and cultural recognition, it shows itself more in the galleries of the Near East or Morocco and seeks to gain a foothold on the European and American market, one likely to confer status scale, as is also the case with works of art. In the pages devoted to the arts, Qantara remains attentive to the creative production and continue to give it the place it merit. "

course, do not expect to find in this issue something hearty that illustrate or reflect the artistic photography in the Arab countries. But in the relatively recent past, Institute of the Arab world had organized a real panorama photography dedicated to contemporary Arab !