This work results from 5 years spent living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.   It was forbidden by law to write, photograph or document any aspect of life in The Kingdom while a “guest” there.   In defiance of this, however, I kept diaries in secret, conducted interviews and compiled a visual journal. The work produced is loosely based on my 5-year relationship with a Saudi woman related to the Royal family, “Fatma X”, and views from the windows of various apartments and villas resided in and visited over this period. What results is a perception rarely seen, and almost never penetrated, of a part of the world rarely visited.   Images of astounding ordinariness, daring to defy a stereotype. Closed to the rest of the world, it is a place viewed with an increasing culture of fear. 

Addendum: A simple type-written line provides reflection about the aesthetic qualities of the letters, regardless of their intrinsic meaning. However, this meaning is impossible to ignore when it comes into conflict with a message that cannot be ignored, no matter how hard we may try. 9/11 pre-ordained what previously was assumed hidden. The innocent, blinded by grandeur and greed, caught unaware of a growing hegemony of immense strength and resolute determination that had previously, patiently waited for a justice they believed was never to come.