Northern Gate (Porte Nord)

Ahmed Mater’s work looks at the changes underway in his country of Saudi Arabia in an age of globalisation. In his very large format photographs he shows the urban and socio-cultural transformations undergone by Mecca. From a traditional town in the midst of the desert, it has developed, in the space of a few decades, into a modern metropolis where skyscrapers and hotels, often built atop archaeological remains from the earliest days of Islam, are now encircling the Al-Haram mosque.