It is not every day that an entire audience is moved to reflective silence. Yet that was the general mood among the listeners when renowned British photographer Peter Sanders wrapped up his presentation at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar’s (VCUarts Qatar) Atrium on 15 November 2023.
The Qatar Foundation (QF) partner university had invited Sanders, who was on a visit to Doha, to give a talk at its campus. Attendees had been told it would be a retrospective of his personal journey in search of understanding and meaning; what they hadn’t expected was how it would make them reexamine their own outlooks toward their lives, their faiths, and their journeys.
Sharing photos, anecdotes and techniques that spanned five decades of professional work, and personal discovery, Sanders spoke with warmth, humanity and compassion. And humility. His words and demeanor, soft, unassuming and almost meditative, seemed to be in stark contrast to the magnitude and depth of the images that were being shown on-screen behind him.
The British photographer transported his audience back in time as he described the processes, places and people that influenced his work and subsequently made him famous.
They stepped into the buzz of the 1960s as they viewed photos he took of some of London’s leading rock and roll stars and gypsy communities.
They listened, captivated, as he explained how it took him two weeks to prepare for the now-famous shot of the hall in the Hassan II Mosque in Morocco, and how it took five years to obtain permission to take the picture of the Green Dome of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, from the vantage point he wanted – the mosque’s minaret.
They hung onto his words as he narrated how he traveled to India, Morocco, Kenya, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, China, Indonesia and the Comoro Islands to name a few, documenting various faiths; how he discovered spirituality can exist amid poverty; how he accepted Islam in 1971; and how he photographed the Hajj after obtaining permission to do so, rare for a Westerner at that time.
During the question-and-answer session that followed, Sanders spoke with disarming frankness about how he transitioned from photographing rock and roll stars of the 60s to contemplating spirituality through photography:
I wanted peace. I realised violence is not an option; talking is. Countries are much like families. In a family, not talking is problematic. The more you talk the more you have a chance to resolve differences. I guess that’s how I was drawn to spirituality. I was always oriented towards peace. I became a Muslim due to my yearning for peace and serenity.’
He also talked at length about his approach to photographing people who had never been photographed before:
I feel that as a photographer you first need to respect people. Really respect them, and their viewpoints, and give them space. Irrespective of language barriers. They, in turn, will respect you for that.’
When asked what it takes to find the right frame, the right subject, to create the ‘perfect’ photo, he said:
Take hundreds of pictures, but be your worst critic. You know as the creator of an image, what is wrong with it, and in that process you will learn to improve. There’s truth in the saying that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to perfect a craft. Just do it. Keep doing it. Make mistakes. Keep learning. Patience wins at the end of the day.’
As the attendees left the venue after the presentation, an audience member summed up the experience when she said:
Yes, I can see why he’s one of the pre-eminent photographers of the Muslim world. He’s also one of the most down-to-earth and humble of human beings to visit here. Inspiring. It was a privilege just to listen.’
For more information about VCUarts Qatar please visit their website: arts.vcu.edu
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