Samir Farid Collection in Akkasah: Center For Photography at NYUAD
Akkasah is the Center for Photography at New York University Abu Dhabi. It focuses on the histories and contemporary practices of photography in the Middle East and North Africa, documenting and preserving the diverse photography from the region. The aim is to establish a major hub for scholarly research on photography in the region, with a growing archive containing more than 33,000 images that includes donated and acquired photos.
It recently acquired more a collection of images from the late Egyptian writer and film critic Samir Farid (December 1, 1943 – April 4, 2017). The Samir Farid Collection consists of more than 3000 images from Egypt bought from various photographic studios and individual photographers and their private collections. The negatives include images from 265 Egyptian films produced between 1937-1988.
Akkasah has uploaded the first phase of the Samir Farid Collection online, consisting of 615 photos from 49 Egyptian films between 1943-1974.
This is a rare occasion for an institution in the Gulf region to share such a rich collection of images related to cinema. The photos have been digitised and labelled to include the film titles, directors, actors and the year the film was released. Each film has its own reference number too. It’s a valuable resource for cinephiles or anyone studying or researching film, especially Egyptian cinema. So far it is only available in English language and I am not sure if the data will be in available in Arabic too.
I spent an entire afternoon going over the photos to make a selection to share here. Not only is the collection an insight into classic Egyptian cinema, but also an insight into fashion, hairstyles, home interiors, domestic and social spaces, albeit mostly of the bourgeois.
I was also struck by the amount of images depicting lust and desire which we don’t often see in contemporary Arab cinema (you may recall this post titled “Clean Cinema” from last year). Needless to say, these were the first photos I collected to post here. More images from a longer list of films are added below too.
The photos are from films of varying genres, including historical dramas, musicals, comedies, and based on some of the titles and images, I’m guessing a couple of noirs too. There’s a lot from the collection to compare and contrast to films from the same period made in other parts of the world, especially Hollywood which appears to be an obvious influence. But this is a topic I’ll leave for another day.
Lust and Desire
More photos from the Samir Farid Collection