 172 pages; 11" x 8.5", black and white.
$39.50
High-quality black and white paperback printed on 80 lb paper. ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Jonathan Sa’adah (born 1950) is a Canadian-American photographer living in Montreal. Raised in Vermont after his family immigrated to the United States from Lebanon, Sa'adah became passionate about photography at an early age, first experimenting with a Brownie box camera and a few years later learning darkroom work. As a young boy he attended the North Country School in Lake Placid, where artistically-minded teachers encouraged his creativity. He later studied at Dartmouth College during the turbulent Vietnam War era, including a year of graduate level work with Minor White at MIT.
Sa’adah’s work is noted for its focus on portraiture, street photography, and documentation of social change, as reflected in his earlier book, How Many Roads? which features evocative sepia images of America in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His photography shows a deep awareness of history and context, chronicling both his environments and travels. In 1981, Sa’adah married artist and writer Elizabeth Adams, and together they established a communications and publishing partnership that continues today. Supported by a Reynolds Fellowship from Dartmouth in 1975, Sa’adah spent a year in Paris documenting the making of Joseph Losey’s film M Klein, an experience that further shaped his collaborative approach to photography. Over the years, he has embraced changes in the medium, exploring new imaging technologies while maintaining his commitment to visual storytelling. Artist’s blog at jonzphoto.com. |
Return to Damascus: A Personal Journey offers an intimate photographic exploration of one of the world's most ancient cities, captured through the lens of personal memory and family history. Jonathan Sa'adah's black-and-white photographs document Damascus in the year 2000, creating a visual narrative that bridges past and present through the streets, markets, and sacred spaces his father once knew as a child.
This thoughtfully composed collection presents Damascus not as a tourist destination, but as a living city caught between tradition and change. Sa'adah's camera evokes the daily rhythms of Damascene life – from the early morning call to prayer echoing through narrow alleyways to the bustling energy of the Hamidiyyeh Souk, where light filters through bullet holes in the iron roof, creating patterns that speak to the city's layered history. His photographs reveal intimate moments: a young boy tearing bread near Bab Tuma, vendors navigating ancient streets, and families going about their daily lives against the backdrop of Ottoman architecture and modern urban development.
The visual journey extends beyond Damascus proper to include the remarkable Christian villages of the Qalamoun Mountains – Ma'lula, where Aramaic is still spoken, and Seidnaya, home to one of Christianity's oldest active monasteries. These photographs document communities that have preserved ancient traditions for centuries, offering a window into a world where the language of Christ still echoes through mountain valleys. Sa'adah's lens captures the dramatic landscape of these villages, creating a photographic record of cultural and religious continuity.
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