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Dubai in black and white

Murli Patni, a Dubai-based photographer, recounts life in Dubai 37 years back with his black and white images.

It has been a pleasure to live and work in Dubai since my arrival in 1980, 37 years ago. During that period of time even though I was working as an Art Director in an advertising agency, after office hours I would wander around capturing images of Dubai with my Nikon film camera, which I found very fascinating.
Dubai World Trade Centre was the tallest building in Dubai or rather in the UAE. Dubai Museum was a very popular destination for tourists as well residents.
Bur Dubai had plenty of shops selling textiles and readymade garments. Indian and Pakistani retailers would display photos of models wearing Indian dresses.
Camels and horse races were very popular on Friday mornings.
The roads connecting Dubai to Abu Dhabi or Al Ain were very narrow and sandy. It was not lit, so it was dark and risky to drive late at night. Living standard was reasonable or say affordable.
Driving licences were most difficult to get, as there was only one driving school. After registering your name to learn driving with a manual car, the waiting period was about two to three years. Private taxis plied the roads and rates were not fixed.
There were very few international or local advertising agencies.
Black and white film and processing facilities were available locally but processing E6 transparency films was not done and had to be sent for processing to London at the cost of a waiting period of up to two weeks.
Today when I look at these photographs again, I realise how much Dubai has progressed. However, I will always cherish memories of old Dubai and its charm, and relive them through my photo collection.

As told to Suchitra Steven Samuel (suchitra@khaleejtimes.com)