A PHOTOGRAPHER has documented the lives of four of Bahrain’s oldest farmers, capturing the earthly flavour of their profession in a series of candid images.
Bahraini Husain Al Mahroos has recorded his impressions in a 298-page book, Garden of Gemstones, which tells a visual story of 85-year-old Abdullah bin Khamis and his three brothers Jameel, age 79, Abdul Rasool, 76, and Habib, 72, from the time he first set foot in Al Shadbiyah garden in Jid Al Haj in 2006 until January this year.
“The book is a memoir that depicts the daily lives and struggles of the four brothers, and how they toil in the fields daily,” the 58-year-old photographer told the GDN.
The book opens with a quote that summarises the life of the brothers: “I was born in the garden, lived in it, and will die in it. That’s it.”
The book features colour and black and white photographs that capture the sweat on the farmers’ faces, the sack lunches they carry with them to the farm, occasional cigarette breaks the brothers enjoy to even planting new crops.
“I have captured the facial expressions on the faces of these farmers over the years, whether they are sad or happy.
“I found the experience of photographing gardens similar to that of photographing fishermen near the sea, in the sense that both gardens and beaches are in the process of disappearing,” said Mr Al Mahroos.
The book contains chapters on Bahrain’s agriculture during the British rule, starting with the laboratories of the “experimental garden” in Budaiya and Manama, the many correspondences about bringing agricultural experts from around the world (in the 1930s) which failed to achieve their objectives and to regulate the relationship between landowners and the farmers.
“It was important to highlight Bahraini and expat farmers, crops grown in our country, and the daily struggles of this important segment of our society that often goes unnoticed,” added the author.
Mr Al Mahroos touched upon the issues of climate change and how farms are disappearing due to urbanisation, adding that the old traditional methods of growing crops was not helping either.
“Many of the gardens that I photographed at length, elaborately depicting the activity of the farmers in them, have diminished.
“Gardens and sea photos in my archives may today look like works of imagination, and I do not think that future generations will believe that such gardens and beaches ever existed.”
Mr Al Mahroos also documents short stories shared by the farmers about the gardens they worked in and how there was a time when date palm and fruit trees provided shade on both sides of the Budaiya Highway.
He also talks about the antiquated ‘dhaman’ system, or guaranteed lease, that regulated the relationship between the landlord and the farmer.
Under the system, the landlord enjoys the benefits of the yield without any restrictions, and the farmer has to ensure the produce reaches a certain level to pay off all the expenses.
“There is a strong emotional bond between a farmer and the land or even the crops,” said the author who holds a Master’s degree in Manuscript Cultures from Bahrain University.
He explains how the farmers moved from one field to another.
“What I came to know while interacting with the brothers is that they are like bedouins of gardens, who leave behind their trees or plants and work in different gardens.”
The book calls for drawing up new agricultural legislations that benefit the landlord and the farmers.
“The farms in villages are slowly disappearing and even these four farmers are moving from big gardens to relatively smaller farms.
“None of their children want to take up the profession and carry forward their father’s legacy.”
The GDN reported last month that only 108 Bahrainis were employed in the agricultural sector as opposed to 1,475 expat workers, according to the new online platform agro.bh.
“The gardens have become so small that a farmer at the furthermost part of the garden can see the other farmer wherever he is in his garden,” said Mr Al Mahroos, blaming rapid urbanisation for shrinking gardens and farms.
In one of the chapters, the veteran lensman takes the new breed of photographers to task for being too eager to post their images on social media accounts.
“They are more concerned about posting on social media, rather than focusing on the real situation,” he said.
“For example, last year Abdullah contracted Covid-19 and later recovered, but a group of photographers without caring for his health wanted him to pose near a palm tree in the garden.
“This was one of the moments during which I truly felt that photography is an intrusion into the privacy of others.”
Mr Al Mahroos says he will continue his farm visits and is working on a series of volumes that will cover farmers in Bahrain including the expat workers employed in the sector.
He held photo exhibitions highlighting his latest work and published short stories and novels that are popular among the growing art and culture community in Bahrain.
The book, in English and Arabic, is available at leading book stores.
sandy@gdn.com.bh
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