How the spiritual journey changed
his life and he became Muslim.
By Peter Sanders
Peter Sanders
was born in London in 1946. His professional career
in photography began during the mid-sixties where he
photographed most of the major stars in the music
business including Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors,
The Who, the Rolling Stones etc. Towards the end of
the 1970's, Sanders' attention turned inward which set
him on a spiritual search to India and then eventually
to the Muslim world where the spiritual beauty of
Islam left an indelible impression upon him. After
his return to England, he embraced Islam and was given
the name Abd al-Adheem. In 1971 he was granted the
unique opportunity to photograph the rituals of Hajj
or annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. These images
appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine, The Observer,
among many other major journals in recognition of
their rareness.
For Peter
Sanders, faith and photography have both been part of
his spiritual development. It was his search to
capture the essence of reality that led him to Islam
and, with camera in hand, to the door of the Kaaba.
From photographing the most famous of idols in the
music industry to the most sacred places in the
Islamic world, Peter Sanders' journey encompasses more
than a change of focus for his camera lens.
"Having
photographed almost every famous person in the music
industry I got bored and started getting in to
spritual things. I just wanted something else, and so
I decided to go to India. I packed everything up and
went, looking for a teacher. Eventually I found one,
who was basically a Hindu but had a lot of what we
consider ‘Muslim Qualities'. I studied with him for
about six months and when I cam back to England, some
of my friends had become Muslim. Then there were
other friends who had gotten heavy into drugs and
alchohol. It was as if God was saying to me, ‘which
direction do you want to go?'.
"I didn't know
very much about Islam but I had dreams and various
other things happened to me. So I made a decision to
become Muslim without knowing too much about it. I
was 24 years old at the time and within three months
of becoming Muslim, I decided to go on Hajj. I didn't
have the money but I just made the intention. My
elderly Muslim teacher at that time had also made the
intention and I knew that I wanted to go too. Someone
gave me a ticket and I went. It was at the Kaaba that
I learnt that my teacher had died on the way."
At the time,
back in 1971, photographs of the Hajj were quite
rare. Peter Sanders was granted special permission to
photograph the sacred places; a decision that still
amazes him. "It was pretty unique for a Westerner to
have taken pictures of the Hajj. I had to sl;og from
offices to offices in Jeddaj and Makkah and eventually
I found a man that had the authority to grant me
permission. A lot of people didn't want to take
responsibility at the time, and they were generally
not too keen on photography anyway, especially by a
convert. But this man was in a position to authorise
me and he did so purely on trust."
For Peter
Sanders, photography is essentially a means to capture
the spirit of Islam. As he describes his efforts to
do this, the words of an Urdu poet come to mind: ‘To
see the reality of Madinah you need more than just
sight; you need vision'. As if seeking to possess
this vision is not a great enough mission in itself,
Peter Sanders attempts to then convey it to others.
He has spent the last thirty years documenting the
remains of traditional Islamic societies that are fast
disappearing from the earth. One of his ongoing
projects in trying to capture dying traditions has
been the compilation of a photographic album of the
great scholars and saints of our time. The two
volumes, that he hopes to raise funds to publish,
include pictures of people who were photographed for
the first time and some of whom have passed away in
recent months and years.
About Peter
Sanders[1]
Peter Sanders,
internationally recognised as one of the worlds
leading photographer of the Islamic World.
The photographer
began his career in the mid-1960's covering Londons'
seminal rock and roll scene, capturing now legendary
music icons in a collection that is considered a
classic by collectors.
Towards the end
of the 1970's, Sanders' attention turned inward which
set him on a spiritual search that took him to India
and led him in the end to the Muslim world. All the
while the photographer captured his surroundings on
film, creating a striking and disparate record of the
last vestiges of traditional Muslim societies in
transition. Sanders' own deep commitment to and love
of traditional Islamic culture has brought him into
intimate contact with people and places few
photographers reach.
"My photography
has always been an extension of my life," he said.
"Photography is a wonderful process - a gift from God
- that has allowed me to learn so much about myself
and the world around me. Its like chasing a moment,
trying to capture a beautiful bird in flight." "The
photographs are extremely, extraordinarily beautiful,"
claims Japanese Art Critic, Tsuyoshi Kawasoe.
"One should not
under-estimate the importance of Peter Sanders' work,"
said American writer Michael Sugich. "He is the only
photographer working today who has systematically and
with great devotion to the task, covered vast areas of
the Islamic world as an insider. Because of his deep
understanding of the culture and his impeccable
spiritual courtesy, he has been able to photograph
places and people that virtually no western
photographer would be able to access. He has left an
indelible, poetic and ravishing record of an
extraordinary time and a rich and fascinating
culture."
It has also been
quoted, "he captures the spritiual beauty of creation
itself."
Sanders'
photographs have appeared in many international
publications, including Time Magazine, Paris Match,
The Observer, The Sunday Times Magazine, Aramco World
and the London based pan-Arab news magazine Al Majalla
who published his work as a cover story.
His intimate
photographs of the sacred cities of Makkah and Madinah
are in great demand.
Peter Sanders
Photography Limited includes travel, location and
studio photography, a photographic library of over
120,000 slides, as well as the production of fine art
prints.
This year will
see the publication of his first photographic book,
‘In The Shade of The Tree.' Another three are in
mid-production, including one about the muslims in
China.
Peter
Sanders' Books
In the Shade of
the Tree : A Photographic Odyssey Through the Muslim
World.
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