THE AMBASSADORS
THE AMBASSADORS
PROFILE
Volume 2,
Issue 2
April 1999
Globetrotting with Ibn Battuta
Electroencephalographer merges passion and profession
By Essam Farag
So what does a historic 12-century travel chronicler and a modern-day physician have in common? In the years since his medical qualification, the Egyptian paediatritian Dr. Said Nasr has been excavating for a common thread between his highly technical occupation and his most treasured hobby.
To many, the very name of Dr.Nasr’s specialty is daunting. As an electroencephalographer, his job is to administer and interpret the electric readings of the brain, diagnose his patients’ ailments and construct a therapeutic regimen. Born in Egyptian city of Mansoura in 1928, Dr. Nasr nurtured a strong affinity for imaging and photography from his early years.
Over six hundred years earlier, at a time when the mere idea of cameras was a far-fetched dream, a Moroccan born Arab-Berber’s curiosity drove him to travel every corner of the earth. Ibn Battuta’s diary of his travels, much like the photos from a modern-day camera, brought to life his escapades and drew vivid pictures of the places he visited and people he met. Considered by many to be one of the greatest pre-modern travelers, Ibn Battuta documented his every move in his published diary Rihlat Ibn Battuta (The Journey of Ibn Battuta).
Inspired by Ibn Battuta’s vision and attention to detail, Dr. Nasr picked up his diary, a 35mm Canon, and set off on a journey to tour the world using his camera to document his travels with some magnificent photography. Over a period of several decades, Dr. Nasr’s extensive travels have taken him around Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. With same passion that drove Ibn Battuta to pack his belongings and lead a traveler’s life, Dr. Nasr had the overwhelming urge to see the world. And like that of his predecessor, his travel diary although different provides the same unique descriptions of people’s lives, morals, religions, scholarship, trade, and government from the different places he traveled to. The only difference is, each photograph is "worth a thousand words."
An addicted traveler, Dr. Nasr, like an anthropologist collecting photographs, catalogues his many memories in large bounds each celebrating a particular journey. In a single trip in 1980, Dr. Nasr and wife Mrs. Raga’e drove through the deserts of Kuwait and Iraq, the valleys of Syria and Turkey, and the European mountain ranges.
However, not all of Dr. Nasr’s journey’s have been leisurely. During the Gulf Crisis in August 1990, while he was employed in Al-Sabah Hospital, Dr. Nasr's knowledge and experience about ground and desert travel assisted many of his colleagues and friends during the exodus from Kuwait prior to Desert Storm. With his friend, the late Dr. Gaber Ramadan, assistant director of Al-Sabah Hospital, Dr. Nasr planned and executed the journey through the harsh summer deserts of Arabia. The six day drive through Iraq, Jordan, crossing the Bay of Aquaba to the Egyptian port of Nuweiba, then across the Sinai arriving in Cairo on 14th September was perhaps the most difficult and trying of travels for Dr. Nasr. Nonetheless, he always found time to swing open his camera case and document life and history around him.
Though a full-time pediatric neurologist, an
extremely demanding occupation, it was never an obstacle for Dr.
Nasr to pursue his activities and hobbies as an artist, traveler,
and photographer.
Nevertheless, on the job, Dr. Nasr is a
pioneer in his own right. Decades ago, his efforts along with
colleagues Prof. John Roberts, Prof. Abdulla Al-Rasheed and Dr.
Bessiso helped establish the first pediatric neurology unit in
Kuwait’s Al-Sabah Hospital. Through his ultraspecialization
in the refined field of electroencephalography, he has many
accomplishments to his name in minimizing the hazards of disease
in children. Like any curious traveler, Dr. Nasr applies this
curiousity to his occupational duty of solving puzzles by
discovering the etiology of diseases affecting children. For
this, nothing is more important than a keen eye
and a flawless attention to detail.
Soon, Dr. Nasr found himself merging his job and hobby. In doing so, he took a liking for medical photography, a specialty that gained him recognition. His worldwide journeys and passion for photography complemented his work allowing him to excel in clinical photography and in studying the brain’s waves using EEG (electroencephalographic) waves.
After completing his medical qualification from Cairo, Egypt, Dr. Nasr specialized in pediatric neurology at Liverpool University, UK. Over 45 years, Dr. Nasr has worked as a medical doctor in Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Ireland and the UK.
The Ambassadors has selected a very few of the thousands of photos Dr. Said Nasr has taken from all over the world and will compile a small gallery. We encourage all professionals with similar talents to contribute their photography to The Ambassadors magazine.
PHOTOS:
 Brotherhood! |
 A pelican tribe! |
 Grandiosity! |
 Super-power! |
 Elegance! |
