Mecca—al-Sayyid Abd al-Ghaffar | Haram al-Sharif and Kaaba at Mecca, circa. 1887

Mecca—al-Sayyid Abd al-Ghaffar

Haram al-Sharif and Kaaba at Mecca, circa. 1887

Albumen print (195 x 242mm.), captioned in Arabic in the negative, mounted on card, slight spotting and fading, waterstain to mount and image

A RARE PHOTOGRAPH BY THE FIRST ARAB PHOTOGRAPHER OF MECCA. Abd al-Ghaffar is the earliest known photographer from Mecca and the first resident to photograph the holy city. He ranks alongside Mohammed Sadiq Bey and Snouck Hurgronje, as a pioneer photographer of the holy sites of Islam in Arabia.