GARDENS OF ETERNITY.
Once, while searching for a title for my series of photographs from Morocco, I came across a description of Paradise in the Qur'an. The surah was called Jannat al-Khuld - The Gardens of Eternity.
It made me think that everyone carries within themselves a place they dream of, a place to which they long to retreat.
I never dreamed of owning a country house with vegetable gardens. I disliked all-inclusive resorts and holiday hotels. But the first time I saw Essaouira, I realized that, if my dream had a shape, it might look something like this.
Later, I invented an imaginary country - a place one could escape to, if only in the imagination. Remembering the Surah, I wrote these words about it:
Here, everything is made of gold and silver,
and our thoughts are simple and pure.
The air is filled with light,
and beauty knows no limits.
Here, we remain forever young,
and we possess everything worth desiring.
Around us are only those
with whom we truly wish to be.
Whatever we choose to do
brings nothing but joy.
And so it shall remain forever.
Its cities are like ghosts, rising from the sand like mirages.
Time flows there like sand through an hourglass. But if no one turns the hourglass over, time itself comes to a standstill.
As long as you are there, the cities exist. Once you leave them behind, they become a mirage—a ghost city, suspended in another dimension. And the moment you are gone, they dissolve into the air.
 
International Exhibition of Photographic Art – The Art of Photography Show 2010
Awarded by Charlotte Cotton and exhibited at the Lyceum Theatre Gallery, San Diego, California.