/Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the VA and the British Museum
"Rioters burn a portrait of the Shah" during the 1979 Iranian revolution, by the iconic Iranian photographer Abbas. The series of news photographs serves as a prelude to the exhibition, as curator Marta Weiss explained, "to indicate that photography in the Middle East is not brand new, that it hasn't suddenly emerged from nowhere".
/Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the VA and the British Museum
This photograph by the Saudi artist Manal Al-Dowayan is part of a series titled, "I am a Saudi Citizen". The woman is photographed with the Saudi flag and traditional heavy jewellery, suggesting women are weighed down by traditional Saudi society.
/Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the VA and the British Museum
"On the Threshold of Time", by Afghan photographer Atiq Rahimi, uses a basic box-style camera to photograph contemporary Kabul. The camera gives an unpredictable effect, calling into question the stability of the image and the city itself.
/Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the VA and the British Museum
A still from Jananne al Ani's video "Shadow Sites II" deliberately introduces ambiguity. As the aerial views of the desert zoom into detail, the scale plays tricks with the eye, questioning the authority of the picture.
/Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the VA and the British Museum
Newsha Tavakolian's photographs of "Mothers of Martyrs" show mothers holding pictures of their sons killed in the Iran-Iraq War from 1980-88. The grieving mothers age and wrinkle, as their sons remain forever young.
/Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the VA and the British Museum
In "The Break", Nermine Hammam photographed young soldiers sent to Cairo's Tahrir Square during the 2011 uprising. The photographer sensed the conscripts' unease and digitally manipulated the photographs, transporting them to scenes of bucolic beauty.
/Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the VA and the British Museum
"The Path (Siraat)" is a photograph of an installation made by the Saudi artist Abdulnasser Gharem. The artist painted the word Al Siraat ("the path") on the remains of a bridge washed away in a flash flood, which killed a number of people who had taken shelter on it. "The Path" has both religious and literal meanings in this context.
/Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the VA and the British Museum
Waheeda Malullah, a Bahraini artist, depicts a Shia custom whereby relatives visit the tombs of loved ones, touching them to seek or give blessings. Malullaha's series, Light, 2006, exaggerates the custom as she photographs herself lying near the tombs.