Princess Reem
al-Faisal, granddaughter of the legendary Saudi King Faisal bin
Abdulaziz, may be an unknown commodity for the world beyond the Middle
East. But her fame as an artist and photographer par excellence has
traveled far beyond the borders of the Saudi kingdom. The magic of her
exquisite black-and-white images celebrating the stark simplicity of
life in Arabia, including the great spiritual journey of the Hajj, has
to be truly experienced to be believed.
But it wasn’t her amazing
skills with her old Contax camera or her ability to see the
extraordinary in an ordinary world that first got my attention; instead,
it was her fiery opinion pieces used rare courage and honesty to say
things like they are. Like her ascetic grandfather, who paid with his
life for his defiance and independence of spirit, Reem is forever driven
by a concern for her people, and the oppressed and voiceless
everywhere.
Despite her delicate position, this unusual royal has
repeatedly censured the Arab leaders for their failure to confront big
powers on continuing injustice and oppression in the region. At the
height of Israel’s murderous offensive on Gaza two years ago and during
the recent popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, she came up with some
of the best and boldest writings in recent times, prodding the sleeping
conscience of Arab elites.
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