Faisal bin Zarah’s first solo exhibition, Raw Kingdom, transformed 15 years of Saudi landscape and city photography into a three-day fine-art presentation in Riyadh.
Curated by Dana Qabbani at Lakum Art Space, the exhibition moved from the northern regions and AlUla to the architecture and industrial growth of Riyadh.
Moving from commercial image to collectible print
Bin Zarah’s photographs had circulated widely through ministries, digital services and commercial campaigns, often without viewers recognising the photographer.
The exhibition changed their context through limited editions, carefully selected printing materials and a sequence designed as a visual journey.
For Bin Zarah, an image requiring months or years of planning carried value beyond a brief appearance in advertising or online communication.
Waiting for light, moon and landscape
His Dawn to Dusk series followed Riyadh across changing light. In Lift Off, the full moon rose above the Faisaliah Tower.
The photographer spent two years tracking the moon to align it with the Faisaliah and Kingdom towers. Drone photography and stitched images allowed him to preserve detail across large areas.
Earth’s Veins combined 21 photographs made from a distance of 500 metres to reveal red dunes and mountains near Thadig across approximately three kilometres.
In AlUla, works including Interstellar and Message to the Galaxy placed the photographer beneath the night sky at Al-Gharamil.
Raw Kingdom reframed familiar national imagery through duration and technical precision. It argued that landscape photography becomes more than documentation when the artist’s decisions about timing, scale and presentation are made visible.