Kingdom of Sand and Cement: The Shifting Cultural Landscape of Saudi Arabia

Peter Bogaczewicz

Book Details

Cloth over board
ISBN-13: 9781942084723
144 pages; 50 Color Photographs
10 x 9 inches
$50 US; $72.50 CAN


Photographs by Peter Bogaczewicz

Foreword by Edward Burtynsky

Essays by Karen Elliott House and Rodrigo Orrantia


Kingdom of Sand and Cement explores the challenge of progress Saudi Arabia is faced with as it rapidly transforms from a conservative and tribal desert culture to an influential world power. In less than a century Saudi Arabians went from living in mud buildings to commencing work on the world's tallest skyscraper. Examining this legacy through large-format color photographs the artist identifies the country's grand aspirations as clearly as its grand failures.


Peter Bogaczewicz is a photographer and architect based in Toronto and currently residing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Karen Elliott House is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author of “On Saudi Arabia.” She resides in Princeton, NJ.

Rodrigo Orrantia is an art historian and curator living in London, England.

Edward Burtynsky is regarded as one of the world's most accomplished contemporary photographers. He resides in Toronto, Canada.