Khartoum’s Abandoned Buildings Return to Life through Photographs

“Sudanese Pictorial Photography” is one of many projects aimed at reviving buildings that reflect the old face of Sudan. (Asharq Al--Awsat)
“Sudanese Pictorial Photography” is one of many projects aimed at reviving buildings that reflect the old face of Sudan. (Asharq Al--Awsat)
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Khartoum’s Abandoned Buildings Return to Life through Photographs

“Sudanese Pictorial Photography” is one of many projects aimed at reviving buildings that reflect the old face of Sudan. (Asharq Al--Awsat)
“Sudanese Pictorial Photography” is one of many projects aimed at reviving buildings that reflect the old face of Sudan. (Asharq Al--Awsat)

“Sudanese Pictorial Photography” is one of many projects aimed at reviving buildings that reflect the old face of Sudan and documenting old, historic and abandoned buildings, and reintroducing them to the new generation.

“The initiative is fueled by our love for Sudan. The name was selected to reflect the targeted aim of the initiative, which is highlighting the country’s hidden gems and unknown beauties,” said Engineer Rim Hussein, the brain behind the idea.

Hussein believes that “these buildings have been subject to a silent abandonment, and are almost fading because of the popular and official neglect. So, we had to act and shed light on the history and heritage that a cracked wall in a building or an old banner could hide to keep them remain alive in people’s memory.”

About the work plan, Hussein said she photographs old buildings according to a certain vision that aims at connecting people to these buildings.

“The anecdotes my mother and father used to tell us about their youth, college days, where they worked, and the connection of places with Sudan’s social and political reality, drove a constant attention to details in me, and gave me an active, spatial memory,” she added.

“With time, I noticed the changing feature of our beloved country. Secret keepers, unfortunately, die or leave, so I had the idea of posing in photographs with these old building as background,” Hussein said in describing the beginning of her idea.

“My main motivation was feeling that these buildings or houses aren’t just deaf stones, but living objects that carry the philosophy of life and its aspects in past times and communities.”

She said her entire process started with documenting the post building in Khartoum. “I searched for a long time, and took information from my mom who was an employee at the post authority. The building is made from sandstone and inspired by the past century’s Victorian architecture.”

“Later, we documented some buildings in the Republic Street, in the center of Khartoum, including the Sahara Hotel, the Acropol, and Sudan Club,” she revealed, adding that the search for the last building took over two years to collect information, accessories and garments, assemble the photography team, and acquire permits.

The photography documentation wasn’t limited to old buildings and hotels, but also included some stores that were famous in the 1970s.

About her vision for the future, Hussein said: “I hope this experience would prompt a drive to turn these places and buildings into touristic landmarks given their spatial significance and historic dimensions.”



'It's a Bird! It's a Plane!' it's Both, with Pilot Tossing Turkeys to Rural Alaska Homes

This image taken from video provided by Mountain Mind Media/Alaska Gear Company shows a plane from Alaska Turkey Bomb, which was started by Esther Keim to air drop frozen turkeys for Thanksgiving to people living in remote rural Alaska, flying in November 2024, in Alaska. (Mountain Mind Media/Alaska Gear Company via AP)
This image taken from video provided by Mountain Mind Media/Alaska Gear Company shows a plane from Alaska Turkey Bomb, which was started by Esther Keim to air drop frozen turkeys for Thanksgiving to people living in remote rural Alaska, flying in November 2024, in Alaska. (Mountain Mind Media/Alaska Gear Company via AP)
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'It's a Bird! It's a Plane!' it's Both, with Pilot Tossing Turkeys to Rural Alaska Homes

This image taken from video provided by Mountain Mind Media/Alaska Gear Company shows a plane from Alaska Turkey Bomb, which was started by Esther Keim to air drop frozen turkeys for Thanksgiving to people living in remote rural Alaska, flying in November 2024, in Alaska. (Mountain Mind Media/Alaska Gear Company via AP)
This image taken from video provided by Mountain Mind Media/Alaska Gear Company shows a plane from Alaska Turkey Bomb, which was started by Esther Keim to air drop frozen turkeys for Thanksgiving to people living in remote rural Alaska, flying in November 2024, in Alaska. (Mountain Mind Media/Alaska Gear Company via AP)

In the remotest reaches of Alaska, there’s no relying on DoorDash to have Thanksgiving dinner — or any dinner — delivered. But some residents living well off the grid nevertheless have turkeys this holiday, thanks to the Alaska Turkey Bomb, The Associated Press reported.
For the third straight year, a resident named Esther Keim has been flying low and slow in a small plane over rural parts of south-central Alaska, dropping frozen turkeys to those who can't simply run out to the grocery store.
Alaska is mostly wilderness, with only about 20% of it accessible by road. In winter, many who live in remote areas rely on small planes or snowmobiles to travel any distance, and frozen rivers can act as makeshift roads.
When Keim was growing up on an Alaska homestead, a family friend would airdrop turkeys to her family and others nearby for the holidays. Other times, the pilot would deliver newspapers, sometimes with a pack of gum inside for Keim.
Her family moved to more urban Alaska nearly 25 years ago but still has the homestead. Using a small plane she had rebuilt with her father, Keim launched her turkey delivery mission a few years back after learning of a family living off the land nearby who had little for Thanksgiving dinner.
“They were telling me that a squirrel for dinner did not split very far between three people," Keim recalled. “At that moment, I thought ... ‘I’m going to airdrop them a turkey.'”
She decided not to stop there. Her effort has grown by word of mouth and by social media posts. This year, she's delivering 32 frozen turkeys to people living year-round in cabins where there are no roads.
All but two had been delivered by Tuesday, with delivery plans for the last two birds thwarted by Alaska’s unpredictable weather.
Among the beneficiaries are Dave and Christina Luce, who live on the Yentna River about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage. They have stunning mountain views in every direction, including North America's tallest mountain, Denali, directly to the north. But in the winter it's a 90-minute snowmobile ride to the nearest town, which they do about once a month.
“I’m 80 years old now, so we make fewer and fewer trips," Dave Luce said. “The adventure has sort of gone out of it.”
They've known Keim since she was little. The 12-pound (5.44-kilogram) turkey she delivered will provide more than enough for them and a few neighbors.
“It makes a great Thanksgiving,” Dave Luce said. “She’s been a real sweetheart, and she’s been a real good friend.”
Keim makes 30 to 40 turkey deliveries yearly, flying as far as 100 miles (161 kilometers) from her base north of Anchorage toward Denali's foothills.
Sometimes she enlists the help of a “turkey dropper” to ride along and toss the birds out. Other times, she’s the one dropping turkeys while her friend Heidi Hastings pilots her own plane.
Keim buys about 20 turkeys at a time, with the help of donations, usually by people reaching out to her through Facebook. She wraps them in plastic garbage bags and lets them sit in the bed of her pickup until she can arrange a flight.
“Luckily it’s cold in Alaska, so I don’t have to worry about freezers,” she said.
She contacts families on social media to let them know of impending deliveries, and then they buzz the house so the homeowners will come outside.
“We won’t drop the turkey until we see them come out of the house or the cabin, because if they don’t see it fall, they’re not going to know where to look,” she said.
It can be especially difficult to find the turkey if there’s deep snow. A turkey was once missing for five days before it was found, but the only casualty so far has been a lost ham, AP quoted Keim as saying.
Keim prefers to drop the turkey on a frozen lake if possible so it's easy to locate.
“As far as precision and hitting our target, I am definitely not the best aim,” she joked. “I’ve gotten better, but I have never hit a house, a building, person or dog.”
Her reward is the great responses she gets from families, some who record her dropping the turkeys and send her videos and texts of appreciation.
“They just think it’s so awesome that we throw these things out of the plane,” Keim said.
Ultimately, she hopes to set up a nonprofit organization to solicit more donations and reach people across a bigger swath of the state. And it doesn’t have to stop at turkeys.
“There’s so many kids out in the villages," she said. “It would be cool to maybe add a stuffed animal or something they can hold.”