Petra
A Panoramic Journey
by
Book Details
About the Book
There are stunning panoramic views of Petra, one of the world’s archeological treasures, in this beautifully designed coffee table book. If your travel plans to the kingdom of Jordan fall through, the next best thing to visiting Petra—the famed desert city carved into sheer rock—is this gorgeous collection of panoramic photographs. You might remember the city from the final ride-into-the-sunset scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but these photos capture the city better than Spielberg. Petra sits in the cradle of civilization, so it’s seen thousands of years’ worth of settlers—Greek, Roman, and Byzantine cultures with notable influence by neighboring Egyptian, Arabic, and Eastern civilizations. The area’s impressive array of clashing cultures notoriously relates to its reputation as an unstable region. The city was abandoned after a series of devastating earthquakes between AD 363 and 551, and being located in a deep and narrow desert canyon, it wasn’t “discovered” by Europeans until 1812. Now photographer Alghussain captures the sprawling richness of the ancient city with a professional eye and gear—Fuji Panorama (6 x 17) professional camera with 90 and 180 mm lenses and Fujichrome Velviafilm. Having obtained special permission from authorities to enter the site at sunrise and sunset, Alghussain exploits a magical balance of light and shadow to portray the unique architecture of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The book’s perfunctory introduction includes minimal use of maps and cursory historical lessons to introduce the reader to the land, but that’s just preparation for the real treat—twenty-four-inch-wide, double-page panoramas of Petra’s hallowed beauty. Captions and corresponding thumbnails are relegated to the final pages so as not to interrupt the breathtaking visuals. From choice of film to the professional firms hired for printing and image scanning, all production details are of the highest caliber. Alghussain goes even further by collaborating with book designer Kevin Opp to produce an edition that sets the standard of design in independent publishing. It is highly recommended for anyone interested in architecture classical history or travel photography.
About the Author
In 1985 Subhi purchased his first 35mm Minolta camera and lenses, and in the following year, he purchased a second Minolta camera and used it for travel and tourism photography. By this time, Subhi was using three cameras mostly for travel and community photographic activities. In 2002 Subhi dedicated his career to arts and photography, so he went to France to study art photography and music at the University of Avignon, France. Later in 2007, he studied multimedia and photography at the art institute of Bournemouth, United Kingdom. He continued photography in landscape and fashion, and he later specialized in landscape and in medium- and large-format photography, using the Sinar 4 x 5 and Ebony 4 x 5 large-format cameras. Later in 2009, he met Mark Denton and Joe Cornish and took courses with them to further refine his photographic skills. Subhi today practices photography as a landscape photographer around the world to promote wildlife conservation and the protection of wildlife and endangered species. He was inspired by Ansel Adams, like many photographers, and was motivated by the beautiful work of his instructor, and later his friend, Mark Denton, for his work with panorama photography with a Fuji GX617 camera, which Subhi also now uses.