Magnum Photos Blog

Children of Abraham by Abbas 

November 10, 2015 
by A. Abbas 
From 1978 to 1980 I cover the Iranian Revolution, then for seven years, from 1987 to 1993 I travel the land of Muslims. From Sinkiang to Morocco, from London to Timbuktu, visiting New York and Mecca, I photograph the daily lives of Muslims, the rituals of their faith, their spirituality as well as the emergence of Islamism, its fanaticism and its violence.
Driven by a desire to understand the internal tensions at work within Muslim societies, I expose the conflict between a rising political ideology looking for inspiration in a mythical past and the universal desire for modernity and democracy.
This work achieved, for six years, from 1995 to the year 2000, I photograph Christian communities throughout the world with the same critical eye. Heralding the dawn of the "Third Millennium", the year 2000 imposes itself as the universal calendar and therefore a symbol of Western Civilization: that year Jews celebrate the year 5 760 and Muslims the year 1 420.
During these journeys, I also photograph Jews, the children of Abraham, claimed as a common ancestor by both Christians and Muslims. I gather the three monotheist religions into a single exhibition with extracts from my travel diaries.
Abbas

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