The Orient in a Mirror

In their latest volume of Middle Eastern photography, the Michauds use a""mirror"" technique to emphasize the continuity of cultural traditions in the Islamic world. On one side of each two-page spread, they place an image taken from an ancient Islamic miniature painting, some of which date back eight centuries. On the other page of the spread, they show a photograph that was taken sometime during the past 50 years. This juxtaposition of ancient and modern is clearly meant to highlight how little the Islamic world has changed in the intervening years--a proposition that may irritate readers who disagree with such Orientalist ideas. But the parallels between the images are nonetheless arresting. Sweeping city shots are nearly identical to their ancient counterparts; laborers, women, children and beggars wear dreamy expressions similar to those recorded centuries before. One of the most beautiful spreads shows two scenes of a man in turban petting a falcon. A few of the pairings are harder to connect, and readers may get frustrated by the need to flip to the book's index to learn their significance, since the images themselves are presented without dates or commentary. Partly imaginative, partly explicit, this book nurtures a dialogue between the art of the past and the life of the present.