Iconic images chronicling the transition of a nascent Arab region into nationhood occupy pride of place at Xposure 2021

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Acclaimed photographer, late George Rodger, not only revolutionised war photography, but also chronicled ways of life across the world. His collection of images depicting the first steps of the modern Arab region have been collated into a unique exhibition, ‘Birth of a Nation’, at Xposure 2021, on at the Expo Centre Sharjah till Feb.13

While most world-class photographers have their trademark style that is recognisably theirs, George Rodger, one of the founder members of the international photography agency, Magnum, only cared about ‘truth’. The result is that his images have the special quality of being direct, straightforward, and strongly composed, showing people doing what they do best.

George Rodger began photographing while in the British merchant marine, travelling around the world twice between 1927 and 1929. Subsequently, he worked in the UK for the BBC and freelanced before joining LIFE magazine in 1939. As a war correspondent for the magazine during World War II, he travelled throughout Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and India, and covered the Japanese invasion of Burma, the North African and Italian campaigns, the D-Day assault, and the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp, among other events.

His years in the Middle East, between 1941 and 1954, resulted in stunning and epic images chronicling the geo-political ramifications of a very volatile period in the region’s history. It was a unique time in a unique place and led to Rodger capturing iconic images of period, which UAE residents now have the chance to view at a one-of-a-kind exhibition titled ‘Birth of a Nation’, that has been drawing fascinated audiences at Xposure 2021.

The exhibition can be enjoyed from both a historical as well as aesthetic point of view, and includes images of the Camel Corps, or Desert Patrol Force of the Arab Legion on manoeuvres in the desert at Al-Mafraq (1952); men of the Armoured Car Regiment on manoeuvres in the desert (1952); and Lt. Sager Ebin Abtam Elgaze, whose cousin fought with Lawrence of Arabia, in charge of a desert fort in Zezia (1952), among many others.

There are pictures of the late Ruler of Kuwait Sheikh Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah surrounded by his ministers and advisors (1951); and of His Hashemite Highness Emir Abdullah I bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, later to become King, Jordan (1941).

Rodger was famous for his immediacy, his proximity to what was going on in the moment. The moments are not always dramatic, but they are aesthetic, such as the pictures depicting the King's Guard Regiment of the Arab Legion on their pure white Arabian horses (1952) or the one of a celebration at the Sheikhs Palace, Kuwait (1952).

There are others that show nations in transition: Kuwait harbour with small boats bringing in food and supplies into town from Iraq, Iran, India and Zanzibar (1952); two Palestinian girls reading in a refugees camp in the Jordan Valley, Jordan (1952); the Via Dolorosa (Way of Pain) in Old Jerusalem (1952); skeins of cotton hanging to dry in a dyers’ souk in Tunis, Tunisia (1958); light streaming into the ancient souqs of Baghdad, Iraq (1952); and veiled Arab women at the wedding of a sheikh in  Kuwait, (1952).

The photographs capture the miracle and mystery of Arab history – self-preservation, resonance and renewal. It is the story of this region and the focus of this exhibition.

Xposure is organised annually by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB). The region’s premier photography event showcases exciting works of celebrated image-makers from around the globe.