Qatar's Inland Sea on the Saudi border, shortly before independence

Hunting Surveys Ltd. Aerial survey photographs of Qatar.

€ 8,500.00

A consecutive set of aerial photographs taken on 1 and 7 February 1971, shortly before independence, covering more than 700 square kilometres of Qatar's desert and coastline around the Inland Sea, one of Qatar’s most spectacular natural wonders on the south-eastern border to Saudi Arabia. In excellent detail, the black-and-white images pick out differences in the terrain, elevation and sea depth, in a manner that is both scientifically useful and visually striking.

Hunting Surveys, which also operated as Hunting Geology and Geophysics, was a British company that produced many early aerial views of the Gulf states, with their mid-1970s work recording the earliest years following independence from Britain when mapping via aerial photography was a vitally important task, with relevance for geological studies, natural resource prospecting, and border disputes.

After nearly 55 years of British dominance, Qatar became independent on 3 September 1971, and saw a period of rapid development.

A striking testimony to Qatar's natural beauty at a historic crossroads between British protectorate and independent state.