The earliest known photographs of important pilgrimage sites in the Middle East are the focus of this unique book.
To the Holy Lands takes readers on a historic journey to areas considered sacred by the Islamic, Christian, and Jewish religions through photographs taken by the medium’s pioneers in the nineteenth century. Images of Jerusalem, Jericho, the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Beirut, Damascus, Mecca, Medina, Mount Ararat and many other important cities and sites—many never before published—reveal the first encounter between then-nascent art form and lands unfamiliar to most of the world. From the crowds of pilgrims at Mecca and the ancient streets of Nazareth, to portraits of prominent dignitaries as well as beggars, shopkeepers and men in prayer, these images by Arab and Western photographers alike represent the first known photographs from these regions. Essays by prominent art historians tell stories of nineteenth century travel, profile the prominent photographers included in the volume, and explore the challenges of taking and developing photographs in an extreme climate.
