Photographer Amin joined Aramco in 1948, became a member of the Photo Unit in 1965 and retired to Islamabad in 1985, returning to the kingdom to shoot special assignments for a decade after that.
He shot his most memorable photo of Masjid Al Haram in 1967 while clinging to the top of one of its twin 165-foot minarets at night. That year he took his wife, daughter and parents to Makkah for the first time. Then he climbed some 300 steps to the top of the minaret for the shot.
“At the risk of my life, I was hugging the pillar with the left arm and using my camera with the right hand, holding the camera with the pillar to avoid movement for a time exposure,” he said.
“Two pilgrims helped to hold my back tight from falling to avoid any slip or mis- hap as there was no support on the stair-steps. Any slip… would have ended the story forever!
“Luckily, due to my strong determination and will, everything went smooth and I finished my shooting in three to five minutes and landed down safely and thanked my strong helpers….
“We were lucky to stay around. It was not possible to come up again due to police restrictions.”
The photo appeared in Aramco World and Oil Caravan Weekly and was displayed as a mural in the lobby of the Dhahran International Airport during the Hajj period in 1971. That same year Amin won a gold medal for the image at the second Pakistan International Color Slide Exhibi- tion and it appeared as the cover image for his book The Holy Journey to Mecca, published in 1976.
