Archiving The Now is an initiative dedicated to curate a visual collection that captures our cultural legacy, focusing particularly on the archiving of daily life’s ordinary moments.
Photography has a strong impact on our society and the way we think. It serves as a portal for narrative articulation and emotional expression. Photographs afford us the opportunity to envisage the world through a novel lens and foster connections amongst ourselves in unprecedented modalities. It is through the prism of photography that we can enhance our comprehension of both our global environment and the cultural tapestry that binds us.
We are of the conviction that the photographic depictions of today constitute the heritage of tomorrow. Their significance in chronicling our history, safeguarding the intrinsic cultural worth, and their transmission to successive generations cannot be overstated. These visual records stand as a testament to our times, ensuring that the essence of our present is preserved for posterity.
Photo by Preschelle Ann Bigueras
Photo by: Aisha Esmaeilzadeh
Photo by: Ammar Albanna
Photo by: Latifa Almazroui
Photo by: Mohamed Alalawi
Photo by: Marika Poquet
Archiving The Now - 1st Edition Book
Sometimes archiving needs to go beyond the individual scope to become a collective societal work that includes a narrative storytelling through imagery. Each witness tells their story from their own perspective, and this is what we’ve compiled in Archiving The Now book, to introduce you to the community stories captured between the years 2020 and 2023 in all emirates of the country, through the lenses of amateur and professional photographers.
What we document today is what we will realize the value of in the future. Moments of the past and present are fleeting and won’t return, but we can stop time by documenting those moments in an image.
And this is what Archiving the now represents.
Ola Allouz
Prof. Rodger A. Randle, the director of the University of Oklahoma Tusla defines Cultural Photography as the art of taking photos for the purpose of telling about a people or a culture. The photographs may be as simple as portraits of faces, or as common as street scenes, or as complex as the capturing of scenes that illustrate social relationships.
Cultural Photography
Cultural Photography or Visual Anthropology is the art of taking photos for the purpose of telling about a people or a culture.
Photography has a powerful influence on our culture. Photographs are a unique way of telling stories, expressing emotions and inspiring us. They can help us see the world and connect with each other in new ways. Through photography we can gain a better understanding of our world and our culture.
“What we know, everyone should have access to.”
— Soren Bitsch Christensen, Denmark
“To photograph is to confer importance. There is probably no subject that cannot be beautified; moreover, there is no way to suppress the tendency inherent in all photographs to accord value to their subject.”
- “On Photography” Book, Susan Sontag
Archiving The Now Exhibition - The Sikka Art and Design Festival 2024 | Curated by Ola Allouz and Mariam Bin Saif.