Dubai: Noor Ali Rashid, 80, the renowned photographer who documented the recent history of the UAE has passed away.
Rashid died of a sudden cardiac arrest on Wednesday evening. He had been suffering from cardiac problems and had undergone heart bypass surgery in 2008.
Having amassed up to three million pictures, according to his own count, Rashid was the UAE's best known photographer and was known as the country's "royal photographer".
Born in the Pakistani province of Gwadar in December 1929, he was sent to the UAE in 1958 by his father "as punishment" for his obsession with photography and in the hope a change of scenery would inspire a more ‘respectable' career.
He attended the Ramadan majlis hosted by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, last week.
In his 60-year career, he photographed celebrities, statesmen and sportspeople, including Nelson Mandela, Indira Gandhi, Jimmy Carter, Yasser Arafat and Bill Clinton among others.
The Zayed University Noor Ali Rashid Student Documentary Photography Award was launched four years ago in his honour.
"I learnt how to take good pictures from studio photographers. I was so crazy about photography I would tell people that if they invited me to their functions I would take pictures free of charge," he had told Gulf News in an interview.
Rashid was named the ‘royal photographer' by the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and was the official photographer for the Al Nahyan family as well as the ruling families of the seven emirates.
He was known to be friendly and often engaged the subjects of his pictures in conversation, getting to know a number of historic personalities in the process. He also took pictures with the celebrities, and has one of him kissing boxer Mohammed Ali on the cheek.
He told Al Jazeera in 2008 that while his "number one leader" was the late Shaikh Zayed, he was "very impressed" with Rajiv Gandhi.
Rashid published five books showcasing his photographic documentation of the UAE's development. The sixth and seventh books are under way.
"Maybe if God gives me the health and life, I think publishing three or four books every year will not be a problem," he had said.
He commanded much respect in the UAE from photographers to high-level government officials.
During the 2006 Federal National Council elections, Rashid casually walked into one of the voting centres, with his camera hanging off his shoulder and back crouched due to age. At his arrival, everyone in the hall, from FNC candidates to government officials and journalists present, stood in respect until he gestured to his audience to sit down before starting to click pictures.
He was often approached by well-wishers at public events, to whom he told old stories about the shaikhs he spent many of his days with.
Rashid told Al Jazeera English's Riz Khan in 2008 that he arrived in Dubai at a time when a photographer trying to take a picture of a bridge would have to wait for about an hour for a car to pass.
He started his career by taking pictures of visiting heads of states and governments in Pakistan, and offering them to news agencies and newspapers for free in return for credit. That eventually led to official accreditation with the information ministry which eventually snowballed into his 60-year career.
"It was such a change for me to come from a [fishing] town then [be received] in embassies and parties. I thought this is the life," he told the channel. "I came [to Dubai] because the shaikhs were so kind and the creek was so beautiful," he added, saying he knew the "fishing town" of Dubai would one day become a city and "boom".
He had said he would want to be remembered for the work he did for his country. Rashid is survived by three daughters and three sons, as well as 11 grandchildren.
