ALKHOBAR: A new museum where visitors can get their fill of all things camera-related opens on Friday in Al-Aziziyah, Alkhobar.
“Have you ever heard of a museum in the Kingdom just dedicated to the camera? I haven’t, so we are opening one,” founder Majid Al-Ghamdi told Arab News.
“Now we will fill that negative space with the grand opening of what we believe to be the very first camera museum of its kind in the Middle East, the ‘Camera Museum,’ coming very soon.”
The Camera Museum will be housed within the larger Taybeen Museum, which is the former family home of founder Al-Ghamdi.
Officially opened by Al-Ghamdi in 2004, Taybeen Museum, named after a “kinder” era that has passed, is locally known as a “nostalgic playground” with preserved artifacts from his youth.
An avid collector, Al-Ghamdi’s Taybeen Museum is full of daily items and trinkets found in Saudi homes, mostly from the 1970s to the 1990s.
The Taybeen Museum space had an area dedicated to cameras but Al-Ghamdi’s camera collection grew so big that he decided to move them to a new museum within the Taybeen premises.
Enter the Taybeen Museum’s main door and walk through the life-sized cutouts and the interactive outdoor labyrinth in the garden, directly adjacent to an area filled with chirping birds in giant cages, to find the Camera Museum.
With rows of information about the history of photography, in both Arabic and English, Al-Ghamdi has put his heart on display once again with this new niche area.
“Visitors to this new Camera Museum will journey through a precise historical timeline, uncovering the secrets behind the evolution of cameras over more than a thousand years,” he said.
With the start of the first camera to DSLRs — and everything in between — you will gain a better understanding of this vital archival tool that documents important historic moments and also serves as a creative outlet that allows you to “write with light.”
What was also compelling was having a space showcasing photo albums of yesteryear.
“Here, cameras are not just exhibited — but the story of the image itself is told, revealing how it reshaped humanity’s understanding of light, time and memory,” he said.
“It will be an immersive experience that transports you from the past to the present within minutes.”
If a picture can tell 1,000 words, you will leave with millions. The space is intimate and every place your eye lands will offer something to look deeper into or to ponder.
You are also encouraged to take out your own camera or phone and snap photos, too.
One of the fun interactive rooms within the museum is the “upside-down photo space.”
Once a photo is taken, the image can be flipped through the phone or camera to create an optical illusion that appears that you are upside down.
“Would you like to pray on the ceiling? Now you can,” said the teaser posted on the museum’s Instagram account.
With a prayer mat set-up, the idea is that you could pray “upside down,” an especially compelling footage if filmed in video form.
You would film it normally then flip it in your device so it appeared that you were performing the prayer while on the ceiling.
The entire Camera Museum is TikTok-ready and the official Instagram profile, @camera_museum_ksa, encourages visitors to tag for reposting.
And, in typical Al-Ghamdi playful fashion, the grand finale of the space will either make you smile or cringe.
“We ended the exhibition space with a glimpse and glimmer of Saher — I’m sure you are familiar,” he said, laughing.
Introduced about 16 years ago, Saher is the automated traffic enforcement and management network system in Saudi Arabia that uses digital cameras and radars to enhance road safety, reduce accidents and manage traffic flow.
Situated stealthily at intersections and on highways monitored by the Ministry of Interior, speedy violators are frequently caught red-handed with a photo snapped of them.
The museum sheds new light on cameras.
“This is not merely a display of artifacts, but a time-travel experience that captures how fleeting moments were transformed into lasting memories,” Al-Ghamdi said.
