Paola Crociani

North and South Sinai 1980s -1990s, B&W

North and South Sinai 1980s -1990s, colour

Paola Crociani (1953), grew up in Siena and studied photography in Rome. In the late seventies she worked in Beirut for the Associated Press and in 1983 moved to Cairo to cover the Israeli handover of Sinai to Egypt as well as other important events in the Arab world and Africa. Crociani also traveled extensively in the Indian subcontinent before leaving to work on her own projects, including many in Yemen and Hadramut.

While in Sinai Crociani became fascinated with the Bedouins of the region and spent five years cultivating an intimate relationship with the different communities both in the north and south. As a woman who spoke Arabic Crociani was able to gain the trust of the local Sheikhs who in turn granted her unique access to their families and friends. Over numerous visits made mostly in the cooler winter months Crociani, working in the softer afternoon light with her square format Hasselblad, built a portrait of a community undergoing rapid political and social change. Her extensive portfolio, which was published as a book in 1994, The Bedouins of the Sinai, “make strong, but unsentimental statements. She has caught the essence of the people in their care-worn faces, in the majesty of the craggy, bleak landscape, in their stubborn adherence to the intimate rituals of a traditional way of life.”

Crociani’s work has been exhibited at The Kodak Museum, New York; Italian Cultural Centre, Cairo; Atelier, Alexandria and the Sony Gallery, American University in Cairo.

All artists →