Pristine images of Arab region speak volumes about its glory

Iconic images chronicling the transition of a nascent Arab region into nationhood occupy pride of place at Xposure 2021

While most world-class photographers have their trademark style that is recognisably theirs, George Rodger, one of the founder members of the international photography agency, Magnum, only cared about ‘truth’. The result is that his images have the special quality of being direct, straightforward, and strongly composed, showing people doing what they do best.

George Rodger began photographing while in the British merchant marine, travelling around the world twice between 1927 and 1929. Subsequently, he worked in the UK for the BBC and freelanced before joining LIFE magazine in 1939. As a war correspondent for the magazine during World War II, he travelled throughout Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and India, and covered the Japanese invasion of Burma, the North African and Italian campaigns, the D-Day assault, and the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp, among other events.