Shaikha Jassim Mohammad Mubarak Al Suwaidi, the first female Emirati photographer, who has been named the Mother of Emirati photographers in recognition of her work since she took up photography as a hobby in the 1950s, still enjoys learning new skills and photography, one dearest to her heart.

Shaikha, now aged 79, recalling the hardships she faced in efforts to pursue the passion in her younger days, told the Gulf News daily, "I started taking pictures at the age of 17 even though people were not interested and discouraged me at times," she recalled. "I didn't pay much attention because my passion for photography began when I was 16 and, at 17, I was sure that taking pictures would make me happy."

After her father passed away when she was around nine years old, her mother barely had enough money to support the two children, and had to work as a cook at Mohammad Sharif's house, a representative of the late Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum, who took responsibility for Shaikha and her family.

"My mother worked as a cook at Mohammad Sharif's house and he would send me to Sheikhs and offices with telegraphs that needed to be delivered and that was how much he trusted me," she recalls, and when she was sent to deliver the letters, she noticed some men exchanging papers with real-life images of people.

"I wondered for a while how it was possible for a person to have his exact likeness on a piece of paper," Shaikha said. "Jeta, who worked as a writer in the office by the port, explained that the machine called the camera made it possible to print anything."

Curiosity drove Shaikha to learn more about the camera and how to operate it as well and she recalls that the Agfa brand cameras used to be brought from India at the time. Shaikha borrowed his camera to take as many pictures as she desired.

Seeing Shaikha's passion for photography, Sharif gave her money to buy a camera for herself. Though the young photographer was overwhelmed with excitement, she found herself left with several negatives waiting to be developed.

"Mohammad Sharif gave me money to develop my photos, but I had so many negatives I was too shy to ask for more money to develop the rest of the negatives," she explained.

Driven to learn new skills, Shaikha approached her neighbours, the daughters of Mohammad Habib, for help. Habib was the first Emirati doctor and his family developed personal photos of individuals for their passports.

Shaikha pointed out that she was mainly interested in photographing people, specifically family and friends, rather than places and events.

Shaikha admitted that she did not realise the value of the photographs since she took photos for her own entertainment. Her daughters clarified that she generously distributed her photographs to visitors because she was proud of her accomplishments.

Shaikha says that digitisation of pictures is just one of the many advantages photographers have today. Sharing, saving and printing photographs has become much easier as opposed to methods of the past. "Today you can share photos easily and you don't need to go through the process of developing photos with chemicals and darkrooms," she said.

Shaikha also appreciates the fact that photography today is a source of income for many. Though she still rues how hard it was to pursue her passion in her younger days, she continues to capture family moments, with her mobile phone camera reviving her passion for photography.
Source: WAM