Documentary photographer, political journalist, and Dubai, U.A.E., gallery owner Reem Al Faisal was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She is a granddaughter of the late King Faisal. She enjoyed photography from an early age, and with her parents’ support she left her studies in Arabic literature at King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, to attend Spéos, a photography school in Paris. In a touring exhibition between 1996 and 1999, her black and white series Port of Jeddah was exhibited in France, China, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. This series was unique as it was the first time the port had been photographed (Saudi culture has not readily accepted photographing outdoors); moreover, it was photographed by a women. Al Faisal continues to photograph using film and viewing her images as black and white prints.
Some of her recent group exhibitions include St. Road (2013), MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary; 25 Years of Arab Creativity (2013), Naila Art Gallery, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Domination, Hegemony, and the Panopticon (2012), Traffic, Dubai; Edge of Arabia London (2008), Brunei Gallery, London; and Images from the Arab World (2007), National Museum of Singapore. A solo exhibition of her work, Reem Al Faisal Photography, was held at Le Violon Bleu, Tunis, Tunisia, in 2012.
Al Faisal says: “I like to define myself as a Muslim artist, sprung from my native Saudi culture and history, In my art I am seeking to show signs of the Divine in nature and in Man. For me, light is one of the many manifestations of God. Which He cast in our path through life to remind us of His constant 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.”
