Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Last week I was working an evening shift for a special event at the museum, something that is indeed rather enjoyable. It is quite different doing tours after opening hours. It feels like "A Night at the Museum" when you walk the galleries as the only visitors!

My trusty sidekick was there too, and we were both happy to finally be able to enjoy the temporary image projections on the museum buildings, as they don't normally come on until after we have left work.

Louvre Abu Dhabi is celebrating and bringing the heritage to life by these photos. They are all taken by the famous British explorer, traveler and photographer Sir Wilfred Thesiger, also called Mubarak bin London. The images are displayed by the concrete beach of the museum, such a lovely way of using the blank walls.

Sir Wilfred Thesiger is considered as one of the greatest travelers of the 20th century. He is probably most famous for his two crossings of the Empty Quarter (Rub al Khalil), memorably described in his book, the classic Arabian Sands from 1959. These photos all come from the personal albums of Thesiger, now in the collection of the Pitts Rivers Museum in the UK.