In loving memory: Photographer documents local memorial murals in new book

A picture is worth 1,000 words… and even more memories.

New York photojournalist Omar Al-Sudani has embraced that sentiment with his newly published book, ‘I’ll See You On The Other Side,‘ a 252 page book which features more than 200 Rest In Peace murals throughout Philadelphia and New York.

“‘I’ll See You On The Other Side’ is a deeply personal project that ties back to notions of love, life, loss, mourning, and death as told through the art,” states Al-Sudani. “I soon discovered that at the crossroads of concrete and Christianity was a beautifully complex and immortalizing form of tribute to those who are no longer with us.”

As a native New Yorker, Al-Sudani says he has always had a deep interest and gravitation to hip-hop culture. Born and raised in both Brooklyn and the Bronx, there was no shortage of music, graffiti and fashion. However, due to him having a very conservative Arab and African upbringing, Al-Sudani explains how his father tried to shield him, fearful of him becoming “too Americanized.”

That fed Al-Sudani’s passion even more.

“As I got older and became more politically aware, I became very cognizant of the purposeful erasure of Black culture in the city,” he said. “Especially the disappearance of particular ethnic enclaves that were familiar to me.”

With the rising rent and gentrification, came the razing of old buildings he once knew. Soon, Al-Sudani started to notice that the Rest In Peace murals that he grew up walking by starting to disappear. So he did what he could to preserve them. 

A focus on Philly

The same thing that led Al-Sudani to extend the project into Philadelphia was what inspired him to start it in New York — the preservation of city history and culture. Philadelphia is also deemed “The Mural Capital of the World” with 4,400 murals and counting. 

Al-Sudani began to navigate the many murals throughout Philadelphia, looking through streets and neighborhoods, where he found beautiful murals that paid homage to the figures of those communities. He says he felt as though it was imperative to keep a record of these beautiful works of art. He photographed approximately 30 murals throughout Harrowgate and Kensington.

 “I hope it will have some sort of cultural and historical impact in the years to come,” said Al Sudani. 

Al-Sudan shared with Metro some of his observations— that Puerto Rican influence was strong amongst the Philadelphia murals included in ‘I’ll See You On The Other Side’. He also noted Catholic style imagery is very prevalent in a lot of these murals, similar to ones in New York.

“With historical art diminishing, it’s vital that individuals like Omar capture this type of art while it’s still here,” said publisher and producer Micheal Brewer. “This is a historical and archival photobook of murals.” 

For more information, visit brewermichael95.wixsite.com/my-site