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Chester Higgins, Jr. and
the African Kingdoms on the Nile
Kobina Annan, Jr.
On Wednesday June 26th, 2013 the Mid-Manhattan
Library welcomed Chester Higgins Jr. to present
an illustrated lecture on his book Ancient
Nubia , African Kingdoms on the Nile.
Chester Higgins Jr.,
a world-renowned photographer, is a staff
photographer of the New York Times since 1975,
and the author of six books including The
Black Woman (with Harold McDougall), Some
Time Ago: A Historical Portrait of Black
Americans, 1850-1950 (with Orde Combs),
Feeling the Spirit: Searching the World for the
People of Africa, Elder Grace: Nobility
of Aging, and Echo of the Spirit: A
Photographer’s Journey.
His work has
appeared in ART-news, Essence, and The New York
Times Sunday Magazine. His photography has been
exhibited in a variety of venues in such cities
as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta,
Dakar, Accra, Paris, Berlin, Montevideo, Carcas,
Cologne, Stockholm, Vienna, and many others
throughout the world.
He was born in
Alabama and graduated from Tuskegee University.
He lives in New York.
The illustrated lecture at the Mid-Manhattan
Library documented some of what has recently
been discovered about ancient Nubia (southern
Egypt and northern Sudan,) with its remarkable
history, architecture, and culture, and thereby
gave the audience a picture of this rich, but
unfamiliar African legacy.
Chester Higgins Jr.
photographs brought to the present
archaeological sites of ancient Nubia that for
most in the modern world today had seemed to be
unknown and enigmatic.
Only a handful of
archaeologists have studied the history of ancient Nubia or unearthed her cities, temples, and
cemeteries that once dotted the landscape of
southern Egypt and northern Sudan.
Nubia's remote
setting, in the midst of an inhospitable desert,
with access by a river blocked by impassible
rapids, had lent it not only an air of mystery,
but also isolated it from exploration.
Over the past century, particularly during this
last generation, scholars have begun to focus
more on the fascinating cultures of ancient
Nubia, ironically prompted by the construction
of large dams in that part of the world that
have flooded vast tracts of the ancient land.
“There is a huge
mystery surrounding the ancient kingdoms in
Southern Egypt and northern Sudan waiting to be
explored, discussed, and photographed if given
the opportunity to visit.” said Chester Higgins
Jr. at the Mid-Manhattan Library.
Chester Higgins,
with his brilliant lecture and illustrations was
able to bring back ancient Sudan to the present.
He also explained to the audience the importance
of keeping these ancient kingdoms alive and
relevant.
Kobina Annan, Jr.
New York, New
York, June 28, 2013
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