Large Folio. 376 pp., 3 plans, 220 b/w photographs of which 6 are folding, cloth in d/w, illustrated, index, bibliography, copy in mint condition, fitted in a golden slip case, designed by Robert Delpire, published by King Abdul Aziz Public Library, Riyadh, 2013.

Synopsis

Humberto da Silveira (Nationality: Brazilian, born in 1954) is a professional photographer with extensive experience and knowledge of the Middle East, where he has been living and working for the last sixteen years. After travelling in America, Africa, Asia and Europe (1973-1978), he studied photography with Roberto Maia in Rio de Janeiro and attended courses at Parson’s School in New York, between 1979 and 1981; he then worked as assistant to Barry McKinley (the prominent portraitist of politicians, artists and other American public figures) and worked as a professional photographer in Brazil, the U.S.A. and France (notably for French Vogue).
In 1985, the Ahuan Islamic Art Gallery, in London, invited Humberto da Silveira for the opening of the Islamic Gallery of The King Faisal Foundation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This experience was a defining moment in his professional life, leading him to visual history, his true passion. Thereafter, he embarked on a programme of extensive archaeological and ethnological research in the Middle East and in Saudi Arabia. This research resulted in his two first masterworks, Najd and Bedu.