.jpg?cx=0.5&cy=0.5)
FirstLook: A Market’s Port of Call in Kuwait
- History
- Arts
- Photography
Reading time:1min
Photograph by Claudia Farkas Al Rashoud
Until the 1950s a bustling marketplace called Souk Al Fordah operated along the seafront of Kuwait City. After the war in 1991, Kuwait faced a demand for consumer goods. In response, a popular market reminiscent of Souk Al Fordah sprang up in the same area, selling merchandise transported by traditional wooden ships. Eager to replace household items that had been looted, people flocked to the new market and found everything from flowerpots, kitchen items and electronics to furniture, dry goods and fresh produce. Claudia Farkas Al Rashoud, the first professional female photojournalist at the Arab Times, who has documented Kuwait for more than 40 years, captured the scene. “Nostalgia undoubtedly played a role in the popularity of the new market. Shoppers took pleasure in an experience that took them back to the days when wooden dhows discharged their goods from ports around the Arabian Gulf, India and Africa,” recalls Al Rashoud, whose books on Kuwait’s history and heritage showcase her pictures.

You may also be interested in...
Find Ramadan Lanterns on Cairo's Streets with John Feeney
Arts
In the March/April 1992 issue, writer and photographer John Feeney took AramcoWorld readers on a walk through the streets of Cairo during Ramadan.Joumana El Zein Khoury’s Wider Lens
Arts
Photography “speaks directly to your emotions,” says Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo, which holds the world’s leading contest for news and documentary photography. Since she joined in 2021, she has organized six new global partnerships to “be our guides” and diversify the images and themes that earn annual awards for top visual storytelling. And she isn’t a photographer.Spotlight on Photography: Arabs In America
Arts
In 1975 AramcoWorld dedicated an entire issue to celebrating the lives of Arab Americans and their impact—from renowned heart surgeon Michael DeBakey to White House correspondent Helen Thomas to entertainer and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital founder Danny Thomas.