The Psychedelic World of Sudan's Sufis

Photo © Ala Kheir- Courtesy The Guardian

‘During dhikr, we fly to the heavens’ - Ahmed Mohamed Alamin

I am glad to have had the opportunity to photographically document the religious tradition of Sufism in a few countries, and have accumulated a reasonable amount of image inventory of its rituals, ceremonies, festivals and of portraiture as well as audio recordings of its music.

However, I have never had the occasion to photograph Sudan's Sufis. It's a particular shame because in my previous career, I visited Khartoum and Omdurman a number of times on banking business but I wasn't in photography then. I can even recall driving past the site of one of their gatherings, but it never occurred to me to stop and take a look. As I said, I wasn't a photographer then and had no interest in such cultural events. Dumb.

So it's with great interest that I stumbled on The Guardian's photographic essay The Psychedelic World of Sudan's Sufis with images by the Sudanese photographer Ala Kheir.

It features photographs made at the Sheikh Hamed Al Nil mosque, which houses the tomb of a 19th century Sufi leader. The Qādirīyah Sufi order meets every Friday outside this mosque in Omdurman and its participants hold a "dhikr" or "zikr" in praise of the saint.

Dhikr is a ritual that requires the continuous recitation of God’s names to create a state of ecstatic abandon in which the adherent’s heart can communicate directly with God. 

Sheikh Hamed al-Nil was a 19th-century Sufi leader of the Qādirīyah order, and his tomb is the weekly venue for the dancing and chanting dervishes. Each Friday afternoon at around four in the afternoon, adherents of the order gather to dance and pray, attracting large crowds of observers and participants. 

The Qādirīyah is probably the oldest of the Sufi orders, founded by the Hanbali theologian Abdel Kader Al Jilani (1078–1166) in Baghdad. The order relies strongly upon adherence to the fundamentals of Islam, and is widespread in most Arab countries and others such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Turkey, the Balkans and others.

David Yarrow | South Sudan

I'm not in the PR business, so I normally don't advertise gallery openings, but I received a rather floridly-written email announcing that David Yarrow was about to show one of his South Sudanese photographs in full color.

I had never heard of Mr. Yarrow before, so I didn't really know what the big PR fuss is all about, but it intrigued me and I found a video interview with him including a number of his monochromatic photographs made in South Sudan, which are truly splendid and are certainly worth your viewing.

David Yarrow is based in London, and after being named Young Scottish Photographer of the Year, he has since specialized on the natural world to capture its harsh and endangered beauty.

He is the author of two fine-art photography books: Nowhere and Encounter. Many of the monochrome shots that feature in Encounter were captured in East Africa. His photographic travels have given him insights into environmental and geopolitical issues which he has put to use into the leading African conservation charity, for which he is the affiliated photographer.

I particularly enjoyed by Mr Yarrow's Indigenous Communities galleries, which include monochromatic photographs of the Dinka, the Inuit and Omo Valley tribes.

Pete Muller: TIME's Best Wires' Photographer

Photo © Pete Muller-All Rights Reserved

It's no surprise to me that the editors of TIME magazine have chosen Pete Muller as the best photographer on the "wires".

Why do I say that? Well, let's go back to my post of Wednesday, 18 May 2011 in which I described his photography as terrific and excellent....and reminiscent of Jehad Nga's chiaroscuro style.

TIME magazine tells us that of the millions of photographs being sent through the news services (“the wires”) in 2011, the work of Associated Press freelancer Pete Muller, 29, stood out. It continues to say " His exceptional photographs—focused on Africa and particularly Sudan—take an individual approach to storytelling, one that combines a distinctive aesthetic with journalistic integrity."

Other wire photographers who were recognized by TIME are Finbarr O’Reilly,  Kevin Frayer,  David Guttenfelder’s, and Rodrigo Abd, as well as John Moore.