More than 250 of the first images in history, including photos from Arab countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia and others, are included in the exhibition «The World in their Lens .. The first photographs 1842-1896», the fourth international exhibition organized by the Louvre Abu Dhabi Cultural season «interactive exchange», and receives the public from the beginning of tomorrow, 25 April, and will continue until July 13 next.

The exhibition highlights the evolution of photography since its invention through a rare collection of first photographs taken by travelers and sailors in the Middle East, the Americas, Africa, Asia and India, and demonstrates how photography is a tool for presentation, documentation and a tool for discovering the world, cultures and people across a wide range of first The photographs are in history, which were captured between 1842 and 1896.

One of the most prominent images of the exhibition is the first picture of Makkah, Madinah and the surrounding holy places. It was taken by Egyptian Major General Mohammed Sadiq Bey, who trained in photography and mapping in France. He took the first picture of Medina in 1861 and returned to Hejaz in 1880 as treasurer The convoy of the Egyptian loader, and took in that period many pictures of Mecca and circling around the Kaaba, and the holy places.

Crocodile and mummies

A photograph of Felix Bonfils in Egypt shows an Egyptian boy sitting on the ground with a group of Pharaonic mummies beside him. And another photograph by Ernest Benike in 1852 of a dead crocodile aboard a sailboat in the Nile. From Egypt, the exhibition also includes photographs of a number of Pharaonic archaeological sites taken by Louis de Klerk from 1858 to 1860, including a picture of the Western Columns in the inner courtyard of the ancient Philae Temple before it was moved in the 1950s with the construction of the High Dam and another of the Great Walk in Karnak Temple In the shortest, in which destroyed walls no longer exist.

The exhibition includes works by international photographers such as: Charles Guillan, captain of a French ship that participated in a diplomatic mission along the African coast between 1847 and 1848; and Désiré Charnay, an archaeologist who photographed a collection of exceptional photographs of the earliest archaeological sites in Mexico; And Ilyas, an English envoy who traveled to Madagascar, Lai Fung, a photographer and founder of the first Hong Kong photography studios, and Kasian Sivas, the first Indonesian photographer. The exhibition also includes photographs of Auguste Bartholdi's travels to Egypt and Nuba Dan) and Palestine to photograph its most prominent features. This photo collection was the first and last photographic collection by Bartoldi, who then worked on the sculpture of the Statue of Liberty.

From East and West

From Algeria, the exhibition includes a large collection of personal images, most notably the image of Prince Abdul Qadir taken by Jacques Philippe Bhutto in 1865 during the Prince's trip to Paris. The exhibition sheds some light on the lives of Indian Indians through a wide range of photographs taken by a number of photographers, showing their traditional flowers and recording personal names and titles, such as the sacred bull, the loud bear, long feet,

The exhibition presents the first photographs from India with the lens of Lala Dien Dayal, who received training in engineering, and then emerged as a passion for photography and founded several studios in Indian cities. Under the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople, now known as Istanbul, the Abdullah brothers were famous for portraying the elite of Ottoman society and members of the ruling class.

The exhibition highlights historical pictures from the Philippines, including the work of Pedro Bacon, who picked up one of the oldest photographs in the country. One of the exhibited albums and the loan from the KK Branley-Jacques Chirac Museum also includes a selection of the first personal photos taken in the studio, which came in the form of personal identification cards.

Extensive research

Head of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, Mohammed Khalifa Al Mubarak said: "From the mission of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum to show the essence of humanity, and since photography is one of the most important means that contributed to the documentation of history and civilizations, 1896) enhances the Louvre Abu Dhabi's continuous endeavors to bring the world closer to each other and to reflect the diversity of the world's cultures in our city, which gives the exhibition a unique dimension to the vibrant cultural landscape in the capital, allowing visitors to explore historical facts about many destinations and regions of the world. The exhibition was preceded by extensive research to explore new horizons for the birth of photography outside Europe and the United States. The exhibition, for the first time, presents the world history of photography. Its development in South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia allows for the discovery of differences and similarities among civilizations. It takes visitors on a journey sailing through it in a world of amazing stories and discoveries.

The director of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, Manuel Rabattier, stressed the importance of the exhibition, which is the museum's first photographic exhibition in the framework of its cultural season «interactive exchange». He pointed out that the exhibition «the world with their lenses .. the first photographic images 1842 - 1896» paints the march of development of photography to give visitors under the dome of the museum stories of these photographers who came from all over the world.

In the land of the hunters

The Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum will host a series of educational and cultural activities related to photography, including workshops, four-screen presentations, a dialogue and a musical show entitled "In the Land of Fishermen", inspired by the film by the photographer and humane scientist Edward S. Curtis 25 and 26 April. The show features French artist Rudolf Bourges and reflects his vision of one of the most beautiful silent films ever made.

The exhibition highlights the evolution of photography since its invention.

1861

I picked up the first picture of Medina.