A Visual Exploration of Fabled Landscapes and Historical Gems
AlUla, Saudi Arabia-: Acclaimed photographer Gilles Bensimon issues A Dream of AlUla – a visual journey through time and the senses of this ancient Arabian landscape. This oversized book celebrates the rich culture of AlUla and offers the unique experience of traveling to a mythical land and little-known geological wonder, bringing alive 8,000 years of AlUla’s past through to its present day.
Captured through the lens of Gilles Bensimon, A Dream of AlUla is an expedition through time and the senses. Filled with 215 pages of original photography, the book reveals the poetic aspects and magnificence of age-old desert landscapes and highlights the people who lived there from history and today. Home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hegra, where exceptionally preserved tombs of the Nabataean age show elaborate facades cut out of sandstone outcrops, it’s a hidden treasure waiting to be discovered.
Located on the ancient Incense Route, AlUla is a living museum and a journey through the Lihyanite, Dadanite, Nabataean, and Pre-Islamic times from AlUla’s history. Documented in A Dream of AlUla, Gilles Bensimon takes readers on a voyage through AlUla’s lush green oasis, vast expanses, drifting sand, basalt uplands, geomorphological wonders and millennia-old inscriptions. These are just some of the stunningly photogenic scenes of AlUla.
An American photographer and the former International Creative Director of Elle Magazine, Gilles Bensimon is celebrated for working with models and celebrities including Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Madonna and Elle Macpherson. In A Dream of AlUla, his muse is the rich history, natural beauty, and cultural significance of this northwestern Arabian destination. “I will not begin to describe, or even attempt to tell the story of my journey in AlUla,” said Gilles Bensimon. “I can only hope that my photographs might open the door to a new dream in your mind: the dream of meeting AlUla.”
Published by Rizzoli New York and featuring a foreword by French art historian Diana W. Picasso, A Dream of AlUla will be available for purchase, retailing at $300 USD. For more information on where to purchase, please visit https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9782952820660/.