It is said that creativity is inherent, but it can also be acquired. There are times when issues, if viewed as challenges, can elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary. That’s why the works of Italian photographer Ilo Battigelli, who has drawn from his personal experiences, has that touch of class.
His photographs were on display at the National Museum in Riyadh from Dec. 6-26. The exhibition included rarely seen photos taken by Italian photographer on social and economic life in the Eastern Province during his stay in Saudi Arabia from 1946 to 1954.
The photos displayed were the results of the photographer’s eye for the unique, diligence, determination and persistence. It also reflects the persona of the photographer.
The exhibition was organized under the auspices of Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman and in collaboration between both King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (KAFRA) and the Italian Center for Research and Acquisition of Photographs.
In the memorial catalog on the exhibition entitled “Saudi Arabia 1946-1954” in the photographs by Ilo Battigelli, Prince Salman wrote: “This joint exhibition to appreciate his work, by both the King Abdulaziz Foundation in Riyadh and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Administration in Trieste, is a special event that reflects the continuity of friendship and cultural relations between Italy and Saudi Arabia.”
Prince Sultan bin Salman, the president of Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, attended the opening ceremony along with the Italian Ambassador to the Kingdom.
“It is an honor for me to open on behalf of Prince Salman this exhibition which provides marvelous photos that depict a very important phase of the history of the Kingdom and reminds us of Italian citizens contribution to the Kingdom’s history and development,” the prince had said at the opening of the exhibition.
Around 75 black and white photos taken in Saudi Arabia during the period from 1946-1954 were on display.
According to Fahd Al-Samari, director general of KAFRA, the exhibition provided the new generation a glimpse of the photographs of professional quality. The photographs highlights life of ... our fellow citizens as well as on the urban and natural environment of that period.
The unique distress of the Italian photographer, in making this collection of photos on the Kingdom at a time when it was very restrictive on practicing the art of photography, is narrated in the catalog, with personal quotes.
Battigelli, born in 1922 in the small Italian town of San Daneile del Friuli in the province of Udine, was recruited in 1944 from Eritrea (a colony of Italy at that time) along with a group of Italians for work in Saudi Arabia. The recruitment followed the consent from King Abdul Aziz that Italian craftsmen and technicians be recruited temporarily until Saudi nationals could replace them.
The recruitment was a quick move to secure much needed manpower at that time for the giant American oil company, Aramco (now Saudi Aramco). Manpower was needed building 50,000 barrel-a-day oil refinery and terminal project at the strategically positioned Ras Tanura on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. The refinery was being built by the Saudi government in response to the strong growth in demand for oil following World War II.
Like his fellow Italians, Battigelli lived in an isolated camp, under extreme heat, initially in tents and later in prefabricated huts. No families were allowed. The Italians could only leave their camps after obtaining special permission. They earned substantially less than their American counterparts, but they supplemented their earnings with other work, toiling 16 to 17 hours a day in order to support their families back in Italy.
After being promoted, from his initial job as a photographer in the engineering department, to the position of supervisor of the photographic department which made detailed photographic recording of the refinery construction, he could not resist some artistic activities that brought to him surprising results.
“We took pictures of the buildings with the sky blank. When the rainy season came, I took photos of the clouds, in different shapes, marvelous combinations, like explosions. And so I started to put my clouds, superimposing then on bland skies, everything done in the printing process,” he had said of his efforts during the budding days.
“A few months later I was called by my boss, and there I saw my pictures scattered on his table. He said to me (sarcastically in the presence of others present there), ‘these gentlemen are scientists from America, and could you create artificial rain (in front of them). (So, I got the message that) I had to stop (photographing),’” Battigelli was reported to have said.
Battigelli felt that he had a unique opportunity to take distinct photographs in Saudi Arabia, but was frustrated on being restricted to the Italian camp and the refinery. So, he started to take initiatives to overcome this restriction, and in the process his frustrations while giving his creative side new dimensions.
He went to see the Aramco president and offered to take photographs of his children, which helped him to obtain permission to work freely within the company sites. Following this he set up his own studio on the beach near his tent, improvised from a large discarded automobile packing crate.
Battigelli went further by making an important move that would secure him the freedom to travel outside the camp. He approached the Emir Turki ibn Al Utaishan, mayor of Ras Tanura, by making him the similar offer that he made to the president of Aramco. The emir accepted and after seeing his work, the relation between the two eventually turned into a close friendship. This allowed Battigelli to travel around the Eastern Province.
Battigelli continued to produce unique photos in the Kingdom till 1954, when he left the country. With the world now open to be captured by his lens, he lived his dreams and defined some of it beyond the boundaries of Saudi Arabia. He realized his ambition to travel the world by touring the Middle East, US, and other parts of the world by exhibiting and speaking about his collection of photographs of Saudi Arabia.
After that he lived years in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, where he became a well-known figure as he continued his travels while exhibiting his growing collection in different parts of the world.
He finally returned to Italy where he was awarded the title of Cavalier Ufficiale (Knights of the Order of Merit) of the Italian republic in recognition of his services to photography and the Italian community in Zimababwe.
Battigelli died last year in Italy, but left us memories of the world gone by in his rare and wonderful collections of photos on Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world of great artistic and documentary value. These collections wouldn’t have been possible without Battigelli’s grit and flair, and he will be forever remembered as one of the first few to document places and faces of the Kingdom.
