MINA, 12 January 2006 — If, as is often said, a picture is worth a thousand words, then the four photographers of Arab News, Muhammad Ali, Adnan Mahadli, Khidr Al-Zahrani and Abdullah Al-Muwallad, have produced hundreds of thousands of words every day. Their efforts have been well received as evidenced by the fact that Arab News has been sold out in Mina for the past three days. The photographic page has made Arab News a sought-after souvenir among the pilgrims.
The senior-most among the photographers is 42-year-old Muhammad Ali. He has covered the Haj for the last nine years. He feels that the Haj assignment is a service to Islam.
“This is my way of showing the outside world what is really happening here,” he said. “Every picture is basically a statement on the events.”
Ali finds the subject very interesting.
“At no other place will you encounter people of so many different nationalities, races and ages — and so many different expressions,” he added.
Moving through such vast crowds requires considerable stamina and becomes increasingly tiring over the course of the week.
“There’s no straight path from one point to the next,” Ali said. “And the illegal pilgrims bring problems into the job. First of all they sit in the middle of the path causing congestion on bridges and pedestrian corridors. When we try to find our way out from among them, they get angry and shout at us. They believe that by trying to maneuver to an exit we are creating problems for them but in reality it is the other way around.”
The youngest among the photographers is 22-year-old Khidr Al-Zahrani. He has found that being a photographer at Haj is a very demanding job. On Wednesday, Arab News published his photograph of the stoning of the Jamrat Al-Aqaba. Zahrani said he waited for hours, shooting again and again amidst the huge crowd, until he caught the perfect image. Zahrani believes the video footage shot by television crews is not as moving as the still photographs taken by photojournalists.
“Most television crews are at a distant point shooting with a long lens or they are up in helicopters filming above the crowds,” he said. “Photojournalists are in the thick of the action, which is probably why their photographs express great feeling.”
Zahrani didn’t mind working so hard to get an ideal picture of the stoning ritual because he was in control of the plan of action. Setting out to photograph important personages at Haj is a totally different story.
“Dignitaries are surrounded by layer upon layer of security and bureaucracy,” Zahrani said. “I carry a huge camera bag full of equipment and at every entrance my person and equipment are subject to thorough checks. I understand the security requirements but it does become a hassle when I am on a deadline.”
All photographers have to face numerous challenges when covering Haj. For Adnan Mahadli, 29, this is his third Haj assignment and while he is always pleased to be sent to cover the event, he knows that sensitivity and patience will be required in abundance.
“Sometimes we have to face sharp rebuke from pilgrims who think photography is forbidden in Islam,” he explained. “I have even been cursed for taking a picture. There can be difficulties too with security officers, who while trying to do their jobs, make it even tougher for me to do mine. It’s not easy to please everyone. We persevere though because our photographs carry an important message to the outside world.”
