Since 2007 Khalid Al Thani has dedicated his vision to the Qatari desert, taking tens of thousands of photographs (and counting). Photography is his medium and yet the effects he teases from his subjects are decidedly painterlytone, texture and suggestion prevail over any documentary perfection of line or form. By faithfully returning to the same motifs (among them the Sidra tree, the oryx, the horse), his approach furthermore likens that of certain great painters (Cézanne with Mont Sainte-Victoire, Monet with his water lilies, Morandi with his bottles and jars spring to mind), who revisited the same beloved subjects to transcend their physicality and access a greater emotional truth. Malamh, meaning details or features, comprises a volume of Al Thanis color work, and one black and white. The image sequence in each book begins with a sunrise, takes us through the changing moods of day, and ends with a starry nighta lyrical cycle which Al Thani reinvents each time he visits the desert.

Born in Doha, Khalid Al Thani has been taking photographs professionally since 2007 and has since exhibited in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Al Thani's inspiration and subject is the desert; his mission, to share the beauty of this poetic landscape with an international audience. Perspective, geometry and space, as well as an emphasis on atmosphere and emotion, are integral to his work. Steidl has published Al Thani's Here is My Secret (2013) and Language without Words (2015).