On a wintry family trip to Paris in 2008, the royal photographer Noor Ali Rashid suddenly turned to his daughter Shamsa with the words: “I think it's time for you to do my project.”
“What project?” Shamsa Noor Ali Rashid recalls replying, confused. “My project to preserve my work,” her father explained.
Just what a monumental task this would be may not have been obvious to his daughter at the time: preserving the photographic archive of the man who recorded most of the most important dates in UAE history over five decades.
Fourteen years after Noor Ali Rashid’s death in August 2010, the guardian of his legacy has finally completed the archiving and preservation of around 350,000 images, along with his cameras, light meters and other artefacts that tell his life story and that of the UAE.
Even that Herculean effort, though, only takes the Noor Ali Rashid Archives to the 1970s. The size of the collection of the country’s most famous photographer is truly staggering.
Archive available for all
His daughter recalled the first time she understood the scale of the task. By the end of his life, Noor Ali Rashid had several homes, including a villa, a penthouse and a three-bedroom apartment, as well as several storage areas. All were filled with photographs and negatives.
When she unlocked just one room, Shamsa said: “It was full from the ground up to the ceiling with boxes and photographs and more photographs. I looked at it and had this sinking feeling in my stomach: 'What have I taken on?'
“I went to my dad and I said ’I don't even know where to start. What do I do with all this?’ And he's like: 'Don't worry, you'll figure it out. It's not that difficult.' So then I started, and of course, I knuckled down,” she told The National.
The country has every reason to be grateful that she did. Her intention is that the archive will become available online as a resource for anyone interested in the history, culture and heritage of the UAE and her father’s role in recording it.
“My father photographed the story [of the UAE] because he wanted to share it,” she said. “As soon as we are ready we would like to provide it for the public to be able to use it for educational purposes, for the museums, for the institutions to be able to take advantage of it and learn from it.”
The archive is also a record of Noor Ali Rashid’s remarkable life. Born in 1929 in the port city of Gwadar, then an overseas possession of Oman but which transferred to Pakistan in 1958, he developed a passion for photography as a young adult.
Unhappy at this and hoping to push him towards a business career, his father dispatched him to Dubai to set up shop, thinking there would be nothing much to photograph there but desert. He could not have been more wrong.
Remarkable life
Arriving in Dubai in September 1958, he found the emirate was mourning the death of the ruler, Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, with his son Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum succeeding. Noor Ali Rashid, who had hidden a camera in his luggage, was the only photographer on hand to capture this historic occasion.
“That really started his friendship with Sheikh Rashid and his career, because there weren't really that many people with cameras,” Shamsa said.
“And so Sheikh Rashid would start calling him whenever there was a dignitary in town, or whenever there was a special event. He was the first photojournalist of that region in the sense that he had the camera, and the British protectorate would often call him to take photographs and then send them to a newspaper in Bahrain.”
In 1962 he was invited to Abu Dhabi by Sheikh Zayed, then the Ruler’s Representative in Al Ain. “That was the first time Dad went to Abu Dhabi and took his portrait. And he just loved it. For some reason they just had an incredible, almost brotherly, fatherly relationship.”
“After that from the ‘60s all the way to the ‘70s, Dad built an amazing relationship with Sheikh Zayed. He accompanied Sheikh Zayed on personal trips where he was always photographing him. He would go on family events, he would go on hunting trips that the sheikh took. In fact, the first few years after the UAE was formed, he was present at almost all Sheikh Zayed’s official and personal foreign trips.”
Two events stand out from this time. In February 1968, Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid met in the desert to agree to the formation of the United Arab Emirates. Noor Ali Rashid was the only photographer present to capture the two leaders at this critical moment.
Then on December 2, 1971, he was invited to record the foundation of the country at what is now Union House in Dubai. Rashid’s iconic image captures Sheikh Zayed gazing at the new flag as it is about to be raised for the first time.
“He said Sheikh Zayed was so happy, and that you could feel this sense of pride, and this sense of aspiration that was in his eyes as he's raising the flag,” Shamsa said. “I think it was such a joyous occasion.”
Key relationships
Of his father’s relationship with the rulers, she said: “He wasn't a foreigner, he was just part of them. They enjoyed his company, he loved their company, he loved them. So I think that became his lifelong passion to photograph and to make sure that history was preserved. He was very loyal, and he wanted to show his loyalty through his work.”
Noor Ali Rashid’s body of work extended beyond those in power to more ordinary people and places. He once showed his daughter multiple photos taken over time of the Dubai Clock Tower. “I said: 'Dad, what possessed you to take all these photos?'
“And he said: ‘I knew things will change. So I had the camera, and I felt it was my responsibility to record it.’ He had basically taken photographs over years of that landmark, showing the development around it.
“That was his vision. He was a journalist. He enjoyed photography, and he really felt like this is something he wants to do, something that is his responsibility. So he did it with selflessness and just clicking away every day.”
He continued to take photos almost to the day he died. His prodigious output has produced nine books and a record of visiting world leaders that include Nelson Mandela, Anwar Sadat and Queen Elizabeth II.
Legacy of work
“The last photograph was with an instant camera that his grandson brought for him, because he could no longer carry heavy-duty cameras around his neck. He was playing with that, trying to learn how to use that camera and I think took one test shot,” Shansa said.
“On the day he passed away he was looking at his photographs, sorting things out, for about four or five hours, before he had a medical appointment. My mother told him: 'You need to leave.' And he said: 'Don't touch anything, leave it as is, because I'm working on it.' So he left, and that night he passed away.”
Shamsa, who now lives in Dubai, had forged her own highly successful career in IT in the United States, where she also created an investment fund for women entrepreneurs. The archives became her greatest and certainly most personal challenge.
After talking to everyone from museums to auction houses and consultants, she realised that she would just have to do it herself. With the help of her family and a small highly trained team she collected everything in one place and began to prioritise.
“We had 15 people working two shifts, just to clean the photographs and digitise them,” Shansa said. “We had seven scanners, 10 work stations. It was like an assembly line, it was a mammoth job. And I think we have preserved most of the historic work as well as the rest of it. The street photography, the portrait photography, the artistic photography, all of that has been preserved.”
After sorting, each photograph was cleaned with soft brushes, scanned and tagged using historical records and her father’s extensive notes. Negatives were even more challenging, protecting the delicate emulsions in acid-free sleeves and temperature-controlled storage. The cost, Shamsa estimates, has been “millions”.
For the moment the work has paused to assess what remains and what it will cost to complete. But Shamsa is determined to finish the archive, to honour the promise she made to her father. “That was the last thing I talked to him about,” she said. “It wasn't just a project, it was a promise that needed to be delivered.”
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Indika
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Liverpool’s fixtures until end of 2019
Saturday, November 30, Brighton (h)
Wednesday, December 4, Everton (h)
Saturday, December 7, Bournemouth (a)
Tuesday, December 10, Salzburg (a) CL
Saturday, December 14, Watford (h)
Tuesday, December 17, Aston Villa (a) League Cup
Wednesday, December 18, Club World Cup in Qatar
Saturday, December 21, Club World Cup in Qatar
Thursday, December 26, Leicester (a)
Sunday, December 29, Wolves (h)
THE SPECS
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Ukraine
Capital: Kiev
Population: 44.13 million
Armed conflict in Donbass
Russia-backed fighters control territory
Lexus LX700h specs
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Jebel Ali Dragons 26 Bahrain 23
Dragons
Tries: Hayes, Richards, Cooper
Cons: Love
Pens: Love 3
Bahrain
Tries: Kenny, Crombie, Tantoh
Cons: Phillips
Pens: Phillips 2
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
HOW%20TO%20ACTIVATE%20THE%20GEMINI%20SHORTCUT%20ON%20CHROME%20CANARY
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Plan to boost public schools
A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.
It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.
Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.
Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The years Ramadan fell in May
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
