The City of Zobeide: A Visual Interpretation

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        Drawing inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities (1972), wherein Marco Polo, the Venetian traveler, narrates to Kublai Khan, the Tartar emperor, tales of numerous fantastical cities, one such city is Zobeide. This collage of images seeks to capture the essence of Zobeide.

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        “[Zobeide], the white city, well exposed to the moon... [Citizens] tell the tale of this foundation: men from diverse nations shared an identical dream. In this dream, they witnessed a woman running at night through an unfamiliar city; seen only from behind, with flowing hair, she was entirely unclothed. Each dreamer harbored the desire to pursue her, yet in the end, each lost her. Undeterred, they embarked on a quest to find this mysterious city. Although the city remained elusive, the men found each other and resolved to build a city akin to the one in their shared dream. A city from which the elusive woman would be unable to escape once more.”

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        The images in this composition draw from the architectural and cultural richness of Islamic cities, including Isfahan, Baghdad, Cairo, Casbah, and more. Through a geometric pattern, these photos aim to articulate a narrative akin to that of Zobeide.