Peter Sanders

Gambar di ambil dar sini

Peter Sanders was born in London in 1946. His professional career in photography began during the mid-sixties where he photographed most of the major stars in the music business including Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Who, the Rolling Stones etc. Towards the end of the 1970's, Sanders' attention turned inward which set him on a spiritual search to India and then eventually to the Muslim world where the spiritual beauty of Islam left an indelible impression upon him. After his return to England, he embraced Islam and was given the name Abd al-Adheem. In 1971 he was granted the unique opportunity to photograph the rituals of Hajj or annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. These images appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine, The Observer, among many other major journals in recognition of their rareness.

For Peter Sanders, faith and photography have both been part of his spiritual development. It was his search to capture the essence of reality that led him to Islam and, with camera in hand, to the door of the Kaaba. From photographing the most famous of idols in the music industry to the most sacred places in the Islamic world, Peter Sanders' journey encompasses more than a change of focus for his camera lens.

"Having photographed almost every famous person in the music industry I got bored and started getting in to spritual things. I just wanted something else, and so I decided to go to India. I packed everything up and went, looking for a teacher. Eventually I found one, who was basically a Hindu but had a lot of what we consider 'Muslim Qualities'. I studied with him for about six months and when I cam back to England, some of my friends had become Muslim. Then there were other friends who had gotten heavy into drugs and alchohol. It was as if God was saying to me, 'which direction do you want to go?'.

"I didn't know very much about Islam but I had dreams and various other things happened to me. So I made a decision to become Muslim without knowing too much about it. I was 24 years old at the time and within three months of becoming Muslim, I decided to go on Hajj. I didn't have the money but I just made the intention. My elderly Muslim teacher at that time had also made the intention and I knew that I wanted to go too. Someone gave me a ticket and I went. It was at the Kaaba that I learnt that my teacher had died on the way."

At the time, back in 1971, photographs of the Hajj were quite rare. Peter Sanders was granted special permission to photograph the sacred places; a decision that still amazes him. "It was pretty unique for a Westerner to have taken pictures of the Hajj. I had to sl;og from offices to offices in Jeddaj and Makkah and eventually I found a man that had the authority to grant me permission. A lot of people didn't want to take rresponsibility at the time, and they were generally not too keen on photography anyway, especially by a convert. But this man was in a position to authorise me and he did so purely on trust."

For Peter Sanders, photography is essentially a means to capture the spirit of Islam. As he describes his efforts to do this, the words of an Urdu poet come to mind: 'To see the reality of Madinah you need more than just sight; you need vision'. As if seeking to possess this vision is not a great enough mission in itself, Peter Sanders attempts to then convey it to others. He has spent the last thirty years documenting the remains of traditional Islamic societies that are fast disappearing from the earth. One of his ongoing projects in trying to capture dying traditions has been the compilation of a photographic album of the great scholars and saints of our time. The two volumes, that he hopes to raise funds to publish, include pictures of people who were photographed for the first time and some of whom have passed away in recent months and years.

For more information on Peter Sanders' work click here

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Umat Islam Menerusi Lensa Peter Sanders

Oleh Voon Miaw Ping

KUALA LUMPUR, 21 Jan (Bernama) -- Semasa pameran foto di galeri Muzium Seni Islam di sini, gambar seorang wanita bertelukung putih bersujud di Masjid St. Anne di utara London bukan sahaja mempesonakan malahan menarik perhatian pelawat. Lebih menarik ialah keterangan gambar di bawah foto itu menyatakan bahawa bangunan masjid berusia lebih satu abad, yang dahulunya sebuah gereja, kini masih menyediakan satu ruang kecil bagi kegunaan beberapa lagi biarawati gereja itu.

Foto ini merupakan satu daripada 50 kerja seni Peter Sanders, seorang jurugambar British yang disegani. Foto-foto itu adalah daripada koleksi beliau yang bertema "Seni Perpaduan: Islam di Britain". Pameran ini, yang berlangsung dari 20 Jan hingga 20 April, menampilkan gambaran mendalam akan kehidupan umat Islam di Britain. Pameran ini dirasmikan oleh Raja Muda Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah pada 19 Jan.

DARI DUNIA GLAMOR KE DUNIA SPIRITUAL

Sanders yang dilahirkan di London memulakan kerjaya sebagai jurugambar pada pertengahan 60-an di mana beliau merakamkan gambar ikon-ikon muzik zaman itu termasuk Bob Dylan dan Rolling Stones. Tetapi semua itu bertukar pada 1970 apabila hati nuraninya membawa beliau ke laluan spiritual dan seterusnya beliau menerima Islam. Sejak itu, tumpuan beliau ialah terhadap nasib umat Islam di seluruh dunia khasnya mereka daripada masyarakat tradisional yang terpinggir seperti Mauritania, Hadramawt, China dan Jepun.

Dan pada 2004, sekali lagi hati nurani mendorong beliau menceburi satu projek foto untuk menampilkan umat Islam daripada perspektif berbeza, bebas daripada prasangka. "Saya hanya mahu menunjukkan satu wadah majoriti senyap umat Islam. Kerana jika anda baca di media, anda mungkin mendapat gambaran yang berbeza daripada keadaan sebenar", katanya.

Beliau pada mulanya merancang untuk menjalankan projeknya itu di Amerika Syarikat, tetapi oleh kerana pembiayaan datangnya daripada Pejabat Luar Negara dan Komanwel United Kingdom menyebabkan beliau mendalami subjek itu di tempat sendiri. "Yang penting ialah menampilkan majoriti senyap umat Islam yang tidak dipaparkan oleh media, yang sebaliknya dipaparkan menjerit dan memekik. "Mereka (dalam foto) adalah warga British dan benar-benar berusaha ke arah menyumbangkan kepada masyarakat untuk menjadikannya tempat yang lebih baik", kata beliau.

SENI PERPADUAN

Projek ini, yang pada mulanya dirancang siap dalam tempoh 40 hari, akhirnya mengambil masa tiga tahun untuk disiapkan. Pencarian beliau membawanya ke seluruh pelosok Britain dalam menemui sejarah Islam di situ yang bertapak seawal abad ke-15.

Hari ini, umat Islam merupakan minoriti yang terbesar di UK mewakili hampir 3 peratus (dua juta orang) daripada jumlah penduduk negara itu. Dalam projek itu Sanders merakamkan gambar umat Islam daripada semua lapisan masyarakat, daripada orang biasa hinggalah selebriti seperti pemuzik Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Richard dan Danny Thompson, bangsawan seperti Lord Patel of Blackburn, Baroness Uddin dan Lord Ahmed. Pameran yang sama ini telah menjelajah ke 33 buah destinasi termasuk Tel Aviv, Baghdad, Mahgribi, Washington, Pakistan dan Algeria."Saya berharap usaha ini akan membantu mengubah tanggapan salah dunia akan umat Islam", demikian beliau tekankan.

WANITA TERAS AGAMA

Kebanyakan daripada subjek Sanders adalah wanita tetapi untuk merakamkan gambar wanita Islam adalah satu cabaran besar bagi beliau. Beliau mempamerkan bahawa wanita Islam adalah teras masyarakat, menyumbang dengan signifikan terhadap kekuatan masyarakat yang mereka tinggal bersama. "Cabaran terbesar yang saya hadapi ialah untuk merakamkan gambar wanita Islam. Tetapi setelah saya memberitahu mereka akan rasional di sebalik projek ini, barulah mereka bersedia membantu", kata Sanders. - BERNAMA

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