The beauty of Islam shines out of every photograph taken by the talented Princess Reem Al Faisal. Grand-daughter of the late King Al Faisal has dedicated her talent to the Arab beauty and Islam in particular. She reveals herself “as a Muslim artist, sprung from a native Saudi culture and history”, who attempts “to show signs of the Divine in nature and in Man”. Princess Reem further adds that “for her, light is one of the many manifestations of God, which He casts in our path through life to remind us of His con stant presence in ourselves and in every place. Every photograph is a pattern of light “.and shade. For me, my photography is a way to praise God’s glory in the universe.
Although her photographs are usually in black and white, they bring out so much life. Princess Reem’s photographs take us through an exciting tour of people’s everyday lives. Her photographs tell a story and engage us in the charac ters’ conversations, almost as if we were in fact a part of scene. When I first looked at Princess Reem’s photography on her website, www.reemalfaisal.com, I was amazed at the beauty of the simplest scenery through the lens of a camera.
Although I had visited some of these places in the past, the exquisiteness of the photographs, made it all seem foreign to me. For instance, one photograph that I could not remove from my memory after viewing was that of a man with an in jured leg at Hajj, who seemed to be so proud of his ability to perform his religious duty and thankful to Allah (SWT) for this privilege. Princess Reem’s photograph emphasizes the emotions of that man, while bringing out life in the photograph Al-Faisal is also one of the first women to be granted permission to photograph in the Holy cities of Makkah and Al Medinah. Pictures from her Hajj series manage to capture the spirituality and beauty of the pilgrimage above and beyond the logistical difficulty of taking these photographs.