Palais et demeures d’Orient

The Orient – as the embodiment of exoticism – fascinates and will always fascinate us, whatever the geopolitical situation may be. The marble and screen walls of the palaces, with chirping, “azulejo” fountains, the moucharaby, the sculpted ceilings, the rugs hung over walls covered with figurative mosaics have attracted the Western world for centuries … Photographer and architect Gérard Degeorge has traveled for a long time to the near East to immortalise the houses in Damas, Cairo or Ouarzazate, the souks of Alep and Kashan. His images form a very large corpus even though – the other side of the coin of this diligent work – the oldest of the prints have lost some of their luster. The text by Jean-Claude David gives the key to understand the evolution of the Muslim town, the materials used by the builders and the principles that govern the essential difference between public and private space.

• Palais et demeures d’Orient, text by Jean-Claude David, photographs by Gérard Degeorge, Imprimerie nationale éditions, 2009, 280 p., 84 €, ISBN : 978-2-7427-8473-8