Arab

The enchanting world of the Syrian Bedouins through the lens of the Japanese photographer Megrim Yoshitake, who has spent seventeen years among them. Bedouins, who refer to themselves simply as Arabs (originally, “Arab” was synonymous with “Bedouin”), are nomads who live in the desert, mainly on the Arabian Peninsula, raising sheep, camels, and goats. Unencumbered by excessive possessions, and without most amenities, including electricity or running water, they pursue their lives in peace, practicing an ethic of mutual assistance, devotion to family, respect for the elderly, and self-discipline. The cultures of the Arab world and the desert environment have long captured Megumi Yoshitake’s imagination. But it is the ancient culture of the Bedouins that attracted the photographer’s deepest interest. Over the past seventeen years that interest has become a passion, as she has devoted her life to photographing Bedouin families in Syria: this volume tells their stories through pictures. • More than 200 photographs unveil every aspect of everyday Bedouins’ life.