David Douglas Duncan (1916) was born in Missouri. As a staff photographer for Life magazine he has reported on Saudi Arabia in the late 1940s and early 1950s. One photograph of two Saudi men was included in the 1955 The Family of Man exhibition in Moma which was created by Edward Steichen. His 1982 publication The world of Allah includes images of Saudi Arabia like a November 1953 photo of Desert Nobleman Faisal and the First photograph of Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud as King of Saudi Arabia (1953). Another portrait is that of Old Abdullah, royal falcon master (1953). But perhaps is best claim to be in this dictionary is the title of his 1966 autobiographical book Yankee Nomad. It includes a 1948 picture of an oil gusher that was intentionally burned for Duncan.

Sources:

The Family of Man, Museum of Modern Art, New York (1955)www.hrc.utexas.edu

© All rights reserved.

From top to bottom: Bodyguards for King's tent Dahran (1947), Old Abdullah, royal falconer (1953).