A unique exhibition in the port city of Jeddah opened the floor last week to stunning images that truly highlight the breadth of photography practices in Saudi Arabia. Entitled “100 Photos,” the exhibition featured the work of 86 professional and amateur photographers from 13 countries, including Saudi Arabia, and the genres on display included wildlife, fashion, architecture, and more.
“100 Photos” was inaugurated at the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts (SASCA), a civil society institution established in 1973 and headquartered in Riyadh, and with 16 branches scattered across the Kingdom to date. The exhibition was introduced by Saudi poet Saleh Al-Shadi and attended by renowned Saudi photographers Khaled Khidr, Eisa Al-Angawi, and Saud Mahjoub, amongst others.
Speaking to Arab News on the occasion, Omar Al-Nahdi, who is the director of the society’s photography committee and winner of the Colors of Saudi Arabia competition in 2018, said, “Photography has become an important artistic and recreational practice in Saudi Arabia […] With this exhibition, we show the breadth of photography practiced in the Kingdom.”
Amongst the stunning works on display were images by Saudi photographer Yomn Almonia whose work explores the beauty of Arabian horses and the desert, and remarkable images from the Kingdom’s holy sites by Khidr, who is known since the late 1970s for his photos of members of the Saudi royal family.
Photography in Saudi Arabia is a widely practiced art that has produced some of the most iconic images inside and beyond the Kingdom, most recently “Horse Motion” by Abbas Alkhamis, who in February this year, was named national winner at the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards. Saudi Arabian photographers have also been featured extensively in regional exhibitions such as this year’s edition of ‘The Arab Street’ exhibition by Gulf Photo Plus (GPP) in Dubai.
