Kingdom of Saudi Arabia loop (2013)
I believe my career in travel and photography can be traced back to childhood wonder - seeing the desert landscapes of the Arabian Peninsula onscreen in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia.
T.E Lawrence’s The Seven Pillars of Wisdom became a favourite book and ignited my interest in intercultural encounter, historiography and strategy. Further reading led me to Gertrude Bell’s The Desert and the Sown and Wilfred Thesiger’s Arabian Sands.
This tour was an opportunity to encounter the landscapes romanticised by these writers and, insofar as possible, understand them in both the historic crucible of Islam and the modern Saudi state.
Again I chose a Toyota Prado to cross the Najd, follow the northern fringe of the Hejaz mountains to the ancient Nabatean site of Mada’in Salih nearby Al Ula; taking in the historic centres of power at Ha’il, Tabuk, Qatif and Al Hofuf.
