"Daniel Demeter has given through his website, and now through this book, a wonderful insight into the richness and variety of Syria, recorded just before the tragedy which is now overwhelming it. Daniel has a wonderful eye for the people, the landscapes and for the beauty of its extraordinary range of historic buildings. It is important that all who knew Syria before 2011 keep alive the memory of a society whose interwoven pattern of faiths, ethnicities, and cultures is now threatened." --Ross Burns, author of Monuments of Syria, Damascus: A History and Aleppo: A History "Smells, colors, sounds, and deep-time history of Syria jump from the pages of Demeter's book in a mosaic of past and present and tell the breathtaking layered human story of a region whose multicultural identity and heritage are persistently being endangered by current violent conflict. With the eye of someone who knew this beautiful country intimately, his photographs have captured the living aura of many archaeological sites and monuments which have since been damaged or have disappeared, while at the same time capturing the resilience of its people, their history and their culture, leaving us with a glimmer of hope that Syria will rise again. Lens on Syria is both a beautiful personal archive of lost and living treasures and a must for those who want to know what a civilization born of hundreds of thousands of years of human occupation and cultural interaction looks like." --Dr. Lamya Khalidi, Near-Eastern archaeologist with the French National Center for Scientific Research and CEPAM laboratory, University of Nice "What a celebration of life in Syria as it once was! Daniel Demeter takes us on a fascinating visual tour of Syria as it was before the war, following his years there in 2006-9.

Every minor detail of people and their cultural heritage comes to life in this rich photography. Stretching from the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus via magnificent Ottoman houses in Hama, and beehive-domed mud-brick villages in the steppe, to the marvellous souqs of Aleppo, and the magnificent masonry of the Citadel, we will need these photographs to preserve the memory of what has now gone or will be restored with difficulty." --Dr. Alastair Northedge, professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University "Daniel Demeter's photos make up one of the most important recent collections of photographs concerning the cultural heritage in Syria. These pictures reflect his love and knowledge of Syria and its heritage as well as perfection of photography." --Dr. Abdalrazzaq Moaz, senior scholar at Bonn University and former director-general of Antiquities and Museums of Syria About the Contributors Daniel Demeter was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. With a desire to travel and explore from a young age, he undertook several journeys abroad starting at age seventeen.

Over the next decade he traveled independently to more than 35 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. He found himself particularly captivated by Syria, developing a deep appreciation for the country's rich culture, history, and archaeological heritage, and its kind and hospitable people. He then spent more than three years exploring the country in depth, combining his passion for photography with his desire to share the beauty of Syria with the world. He currently resides in San Luis Obispo with his wife and cat, pursuing a degree in cultural anthropology and maintaining a website dedicated to Syria's cultural and historic sites.