Saudi Gazette

 

From the outside, many Westerners look at Saudi Arabia and see women covered in black from head to toe; a male dominated society where women are oppressed, can’t drive, and have no influence in society. Most onlookers do not see the whole picture, that those women dressed in black are just as influential in turning the wheels of social change as men.

 

British photographer, Sebastian Farmborough, was curious to learn more about the region, and he was reluctant to rely on the negative images of Saudi Arabia that most Western media outlets project. Nonetheless, on his first plane out there he was a bit uneasy himself.

 

Originally his plan was to work in Saudi Arabia for a year, save up some money, and head back to Spain where he had been residing for several years.

What he experienced when he was immersed in Saudi culture and when he mingled with the people took him by surprise and was very different from his expectations of what life would be like in such a conservative country. 

Slowly, he began looking at the people, the desert, the food, and the culture with a different lens, and it is what he saw through this lens that entranced him.

 

“At first, I expected that life there would be tough, I did not think that I would have much of a life there. I thought that I would just work, save money, and then leave. However, I soon discovered how different it was. The people were so friendly and generous and I was routinely invited out for dinner or given a lift home, even by strangers,” said Farmborough to the Saudi Gazette.

 

He ended up staying in Saudi Arabia far longer than he had planned.

“The hospitality and generosity is incredible. When a group of friends has a friend who is poor, it is not uncommon for them to get together and pay for their friend’s wedding, to help him out. I had never heard of things like that in England. My Saudi friends repeatedly invited me out for dinner, and they insisted on paying each time. If I tried to pay they would absolutely refuse to allow me, their guest, to pay,” said Farmborough.

 

Looking at Saudi culture, this photographer saw close family ties, good friendships, and a strong faith.

 

“I recall being out to dinner with a group of Saudi friends when one of their phones rang. After a short conversation on his phone, he stood up, and proudly announced that he had to take his mother shopping. It was as if he thought it a duty and a privilege to do his mother a favor. I was shocked, because in England it would not be uncommon to hear a person complain, given the same situation,” he added.

 

“I was also impressed by the respect shown towards the elderly. They were often the first to be greeted when entering a room, regardless of title. They were also kissed on the forehead as a sign of respect,” said Farmborough.

 

Again the picture that Farmborough saw when living in Saudi Arabia was very different from the pictures of oppressed women and angry looking, bearded men that are conveyed by Western media.

 

“To give you another example, I was driving through the desert with a friend of mine. All of a sudden, we were being chased by two Saudis in a truck behind us. They were waving to us and motioning for us to stop. At that time I had just moved to the country, so I was worried, what if they were terrorists? Eventually, we stopped, and summoned up the nerve to talk to them. It turned out that they wanted to invite us to their farm to have lunch. We went there, and they were simple people but they put out an amazing meal for us,” recalled Farmborough.

   

He enjoyed going to the desert, sitting on the floor and eating with his hands, wearing the thobe, and riding camels too.

 

He was so drawn to Saudi culture that he wanted to learn the Arabic language.

 

“Before moving there, I had no intention of learning Arabic, but with being treated so well, I just had to find a way to say thank you. It became addictive, because the more I learnt to speak, the more they invited me into their world and the more I wanted to understand them. I found Saudis very easy to talk to. I loved writing Arabic and found the meaning of some of the words and phrases to be so poetic that I wanted to go deeper and deeper into it,” said Farmborough.

 

As one can see in Farmborough’s pictures, his photography is taking on a new direction, and he is using his lens to bridge cultural gaps, and to share with the world what his lens has shown him.

 

His most famous photograph, the one he calls the ‘emerging mystery’, of a veiled woman, rising up out of the water of the sea, represents how veiled Muslim women are emerging across the world, becoming businesswomen, scientists, leaders of state, sportswomen, and achieving feats such as climbing Mount Everest. 

 

Sebastian Farmborough was perturbed by the recent incident when a Saudi woman in France was banned from entering an opera theater because she was veiled.

 

When asked about the aim behind his most recent series of photographs, Farmborough commented, “I want to reduce the misconceptions in the West surrounding both Arabs and Muslims. I know both cultures very well and I think we have a great deal to learn from one another. Essentially, we are the same, with the same basic needs and aspirations. If only we could communicate better and try to understand and accept our differences. Neither of our cultures is perfect, but perhaps by combining values from both we might be a lot closer to attaining that.”