Iraq’s Invisible Beauty: Through Latif al-Ani’s Lens

Iconic photographer Latif al-Ani travels across Iraq to find the people and places he took photos of before the wars.

Iconic photographer Latif al-Ani travels across Iraq to find the people and places he took photos of before the wars. Acclaimed photographer Latif al-Ani, born in Baghdad in 1932, is known as the father of Iraqi photography. As the official photographer for presidents and the Iraqi Petroleum Company, his portfolio forms a unique visual archive of Iraq during its heyday from the 1950s to 1970s. His photos capture the abundance and complexity of a modern and cosmopolitan nation living in peace and harmony. But when Saddam Hussein rose to power, al-Ani stopped taking photos. After decades of war, al-Ani travels across Iraq with his photographs in search of the remnants of his beautiful country.