Released on: June 23, 2008, 6:01 pm

Press Release Author: Junaid Bhatti / Ballencrieff House Ltd

Industry: Entertainment

Press Release Summary: One of the world's most celebrated rock photographers has
launched a collection of work showcasing the diversity and beauty of the Islamic
world. Peter Sanders, who made his name photographing famous rock and roll icons of
the 1960s, has launched "In the Shade of the Tree", documenting the author's travels
around the Muslim world.

Press Release Body: One of the world's most celebrated rock photographers has
launched a collection of work showcasing the diversity and beauty of the Islamic
world. Peter Sanders, who made his name photographing famous rock and roll icons of
the 1960s, has launched "In the Shade of the Tree", documenting the author's travels
around the Muslim world.

The book illustrates Sanders four decades of travels to experience the wonders of
the Islamic world. "In the Shade of the Tree" captures the humanity of peoples often
labeled by the West as either victims of circumstance or a threat to modern culture.


This seminal work was originally published, as a limited run, in 2002, and had been
out of print for 6 years. The second edition was commissioned as a response to
continued demands from Sanders' fans for a chance to acquire a copy of his most
celebrated work. The new edition has been updated and is prefaced by renowned
American scholar Hamza Yusuf.

During the four decades of travel that inspired the work, Sanders journeyed across
the three continents of ancient Islamic civilisation, and enjoyed the diversity of
culture and history offered by Andalucía, North and Central Africa, The Middle East,
Central Asia and China.

The photography is interspersed with world poetry and verses from the Holy
Scriptures of different religions. The book gives the reader an opportunity to share
Sanders reflections on the concepts of beauty, wisdom, poverty and the nature of
happiness. He cajoles his audience into contemplating the "wealth of poverty" and
the influence and importance of women in Muslim societies.

The title is inspired by the saying of the Prophet Muhammad "I am in this world like
a traveller who takes shade under a tree, only to resume his journey." Shaykh Hamza
Yusuf elaborates further, quoting a Qur'anic verse: "Have you not considered your
Lord, how He extends the shade, and had He willed He would have made it still? Then
We make the sun its guide, then We withdraw it unto Us gradually." (chapter 25,
verses 45-46)

California-based Scholar Hamza Yusuf is a fan of the work, and commented: "In the
Shade of the Tree is the result of many years of painstaking observation of shade.
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then these pictures are a testimony to the
beauty in Sanders' eye. He uses an odd yet wondrous mechanical device that captures
for one brief moment a glimpse of beauty. The pictures in this book, while only
brief moments of shade written in light captured by his discerning eye, will linger
on in your memory long after you have closed the book."

Further information about "In the Shade of the Tree" is available at
www.inspiralbooks.com.

About Peter Sanders
Peter Sanders began his career in the 1960s as one of London's leading photographers
of rock musicians. His pictures of Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The
Rolling Stones, The Who and many others performing are classics of the genre. In the
late 1960s Sanders embarked on a spiritual journey that would take him to India and
North Africa and then, in 1971, to the Islamic Holy City of Makkah where he
photographed the Hajj pilgrimage, at a time when few professional photographers had
access to Islam's holiest Sanctuary. Since then he has been granted special access
to photograph the protected cities of Makkah and Madinah several times.

Peter's empathy with both spiritual masters and ordinary people has opened many
doors, allowing him to be the first person to photograph many great Muslim scholars.
Having travelled far and wide, Peter Sanders ha built up an archive of photographs
that are in great demand from publishers and Media houses around the world. His
classic work "In the Shade of the Tree" represents a small selection from this rich
collection of spiritual images.

ENDS

Web Site: http://www.inspiralbooks.com

Contact Details: Junaid Bhatti
Ballencrieff House
Holborn
London WC1N 3XX
United Kingdom
+44 7980 586 243