Latif Al Ani: Through the Lens 1953-1979

Overview

Opening on 16 March 2018, Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) presents a solo exhibition of photographer Latif Al Ani’s work at Gallery 4 in Al Mureijah Square. The exhibition traces the progression of his life both in Iraq and throughout his travels, spanning over three decades from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Born in 1932 in Baghdad, Al Ani learned photography early in life and trained at the studio of a local photographer. As an adult, he joined the Arabic-language magazine Ahl Al Naft [People of Oil], a photography unit that was part of the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), where he worked between 1954 and 1960. He founded the photography department at the Iraqi Ministry of Culture in 1960 and went on to head the official Iraqi News Agency. Al Ani stopped making work in the late 1970s prior to the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War.