Description

On September 11, 2001, the photographer Abbas watched the World Trade Center towers fall in New York--live on Siberian TV. It spurred him to begin a journey through the Islamic world that would last seven years. The photographs published here are the final result of that project.

Born in Iran, Abbas casts a sharp eye over a world seen by few from the West. Seeking out people and places that have been overlooked by others, he reveals far more--and in greater depth--than photojournalists who focus on flashpoints or who race to break the latest news. Abbas is acclaimed for his special ability to freeze a moment in a particular social or political conflict, to frame actions or gestures that instantly become emblematic: what he calls "the suspended moment."

Recording a route through sixteen countries--including Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Indonesia, Thailand, Kenya, and Zanzibar--Abbas's pictures and the excerpts from his candid diary reflect the undercurrents of global disturbance, uncertainty, and threat. Yet there are gleams of optimism, too--a wedding, an impromptu ball game--that remind us of Abbas's gift as a humane interpreter of our existence.