Photo show on New York mosques opens today

Oman Daily Observer, February 11, 2006

MUSCAT — An exhibition of photographs entitled 'The Mosques of New York' opens at the Omani Society of Fine Arts, Al Sarooj, this evening. The weeklong exhibition is being jointly organised by the US Embassy, the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs and the Institute for American Values in New York City.

The exhibits are the work of Edward Grazda, a highly-accomplished documentary photographer, who spent seven years, between 1994-2001, looking at the public presence of Islam in America by focusing his lens on the mosques of New York City, both large and small.

In 2002, the photographs were published in a book entitled, New York Masjid: The Mosques of New York (Powerhouse Books), accompanied by an essay by architectural historian, Professor Jerrilynn Dobbs.

The book was later voted as one of the 10 best architectural books of the year by The New York Times. The photographs and the essay examine how Muslims practise their faith in the pluralistic culture of urban America.

The exhibition at the Omani Society of Fine Arts is a selection of images from New York Masjid. Some copies of the book will be available during the exhibition.

Edward Grazda is currently in Oman for three months preparing a large-scale photo essay and portrait of contemporary Omani society. The project is part of a cultural exchange programme sponsored by the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs and the Institute for American Values in New York.

Grazda studied photography at the Rhode Island School of Design and has over many years worked as a photographer in countries throughout the world, having spent more than 25 years closely documenting Afghanistan.

His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and others, as well as in important private collections. In addition to teaching a photography course at Harvard University, Grazda is also the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including one from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Edward Grazda, who lives in New York City, is represented by GroupM35, a photographic agency representing documentary photographers from around the world.

Amor bin Abdullah al Zadjali, Head of the Photography Department at Omani Society for Fine Arts, said the exhibition was significant in that it showcased for the first time the works of the American photographer on the subject of mosques in New York. He added that the photographer will interact with members of the photography department on Monday at 7.30 pm. Meanwhile, a similar photography exhibition on Oman as a destination, put up by the photography department of OSFA, opened last week at Texas.