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Vintage Dubai photos get brand new frame

Dubai - Between 1975 and 1980, former expat Anita Van Der Krol captured shots of wooden houses, souqs and villages

Through the Dubai Frame, expats and residents got to tell the city's story from their own perspectives.
Residing in Dubai from 1975 to 1980, Dutch photographer Anita Van Der Krol had four of her images that depicted Bedouins performing the traditional Merhaba dance, men relaxing at a Bedouin tent and shopkeepers of the old souq displayed in the frame's Old Dubai museum on the mezzanine floor.
The black and white photos were used in the illustrations of the old souq at the frame where the man she photographed years ago at his coffee pot shop stands today on a 3D projection of the same shop displayed in the frame. The traditional coffee pots (known as Dallah) used in his shop lie right there in the 2017 landmark.
The rest of her images are used in an immersive video presentation made by a South African animation company, Wicked Pixels, which take visitors to a journey of the past. The video compiled the works of different foreign artists and photographers who captured old Dubai through their lenses.
"It wasn't me who reached Dubai Frame, but Dubai Frame reached me," the 71-year-old photographer told Khaleej times over the phone of how she was contacted to display her pictures in the frame. She was 28 years old at the time she landed in Dubai from the Netherlands in 1975.
"I was among the first inhabitants of Jebel Ali. My husband was an engineer involved in building the Jebel Ali harbour, the Drydocks and the deepening of Dubai Creek. Years ago, we didn't know why Dubai was working in such projects, but now we know," she said, referring to the busy Jebel Ali Port, Port Rashid and Dubai Canal that now play a major role in Dubai's economic development.
Der Krol took her camera and captured shots of wooden houses and villages at the time. Her favourite image remains that of the bedouin tent. "It was of bedouins who, despite our language differences, were nice to me. They offered me coffee and communicated to me through gestures," she recalled.
Being a frequent visitor to Dubai, the photographer said the country's quick development came of no surprise. Back in the days, so much was already happening. "People were so nice and you could feel their great energy and passion. I got to witness the inauguration of Dubai's first skyscraper, the World Trade Centre in 1979, and setting the country's first traffic light," she said.
Now seeing the city's transition from a fishing village to a metropolis marked with the world's tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, is "surreal".
"On my last visit to Dubai two years ago, I went inside the World Trade Centre and it was amazing. The transition of my old Jumeirah residence, too, was fascinating. Now my favourite area in Dubai is Jumeirah Beach Park."
Der Krol is now looking forward to buy her Dubai Frame ticket, open to the public on January 1, before purchasing her plane tickets. "I'm happy my photographs are part of Dubai's history," she said.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com