The Sultanate of Oman has always had a prominent position in history because of its geographical position. Oman traded from the earliest times with the civilisations in the Fertile Crescent and the Indus Valley. This, in turn, led to the development of profound sailing and navigational skills and techniques. Thus, while the famous Portuguese sailor "Henry The Navigator" was struggling to get his fleet down the West Coast of Africa in the 1500s, sailing dhows from Oman had been trading for centuries with countries as far a field as Zanzibar and China. The sailing skills and trading routes that the Omanis developed were the envy of the western world. With their occupation of Muscat in 1507 the Portuguese took over domination of these trading routes. 100 years later English sailors arrived in a more peaceful manner, in search of limes, which prevented the ships crews from getting the dreaded disease known as scurvy, during their long sea crossings. A relationship began between the Omanis and the English that has lasted until the present time.
With the ascension of Sultan Qaboos to power in 1970, Oman was propelled into the twenty-first century, fuelled and financed by the discovery of oil, as a country of the new millennium. Its transformation, aptly termed the "Renaissance", from a country with few schools, hospitals or roads to the present day has been controlled but spectacular. Where there were tracks around Muttrah, there is now an elegant Corniche, where there were simple houses built of palm fronds and coral blocks, there are elegant villas; where there was a modest population working hard to survive on fishing, herding and trading, there is a cosmopolitan mix of nationalities living in a healthy and prosperous environment.
"Now & Then - Oman" is a photographic insight into a nation whose fortunes waned in one region to be replaced by oil wealth in another.
