Iraq Photo Archive: Iraqi diaspora PhD research project at Glasgow School of Art

ARCHIVE
SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS
ABOUT
CONTACT
More

These photo are important to me because they’re a zeitgeist of scenery in a Baghdad that no longer exists. The famous two story Baghdadi style houses are disappearing one by one and are being replaced by either planned out, unoriginal, community style (often high rise) projects, such as Iraqi gate, or by tiny McMansion style shoe boxes, often made in attempts of adapting to Baghdad’s failed electrical system. Beyond that the photos also look very lush and vegetive, which is something that is also disappearing in an Iraq that can’t seem to adapt to climate change, as despite being seen as the least of the worries plaguing our country, it will be the one that’s most impactful in our near future. Lastly, the photos just look peaceful and happy, in contrast to the “usual” photos of the last 20+ years.

Grandma's house, Baghdad, 1970s

These photo are important to me because they’re a zeitgeist of scenery in a Baghdad that no longer exists. The famous two story Baghdadi style houses are disappearing one by one and are being replaced by either planned out, unoriginal, community style (often high rise) projects, such as Iraqi gate, or by tiny McMansion style shoe boxes, often made in attempts of adapting to Baghdad’s failed electrical system. Beyond that the photos also look very lush and vegetive, which is something that is also disappearing in an Iraq that can’t seem to adapt to climate change, as despite being seen as the least of the worries plaguing our country, it will be the one that’s most impactful in our near future. Lastly, the photos just look peaceful and happy, in contrast to the “usual” photos of the last 20+ years.

My aunt, Baghdad, 1974

Baghdad, 1960s

These are photos of my father's history he never liked to talk about.

Baghdad, 1970s

Baghdad, 1960s

Institute of Fine Arts

Baghdad, 1970s

These pictures are of my father and some of the heroes who are standing against enemy lines in northern Iraq, where they represent the best Iraqi heroes in confronting the enemies.

Sulaymaniyah, 1980

الاول من الواقفين من اليمين
وزير الشباب والرياضة السابق جاسم محمد
جعفر عندما كان طالبا في جامعة السليمانية

This picture was taken in Sulaimaniya University in the late 70's. First one who is on the right is the previous Iraqi Minister of youth and sport. His name is Jasim Muhammed Ja’fer

Sulaimaniya Univeristy, 1970s

These are photos my parents took while they were in architecture school at the University of Baghdad. The minaret of Ana has since been destroyed.

Ana, 1980-1982

These are photos my parents took while they were in architecture school at the University of Baghdad.

Samarra, 1980-1982

These are photos my parents took while they were in architecture school at the University of Baghdad.

Al Ukhaidir fortress, near Karbala, 1980-1982

These are photos my parents took while they were in architecture school at the University of Baghdad.

Al Ukhaidir fortress, near Karbala, 1980-1982

These are photos my parents took while they were in architecture school at the University of Baghdad.

Heet, 1980-1982

These are photos my parents took while they were in architecture school at the University of Baghdad.

Heet, 1980-1982

My uncle and my mother, أمي و خالي

Baqubeh, Diyala, 1969

This is my saba, Salach (Tzvi) Dagmi. This picture is important to me, as it's a reminder of the vibrant Jewish Baghdadi community that lived in, and were an integral part of, the city and country. My saba worked at the train station selling train tickets and package postage slips.

Baghdad, 1947-49

It’s my grandfather and his friends.

Baghdad, 1950

My father and his friend Dr. Yaqoub AbdulMasih who is currently in Dublin, on a field trip to the historic and legendry Babylonian city.
Babylon is a very important city and legacy of Iraq and the world, whether historically or even religiously.

Babylon, 1984

My father and his friend Dr. Yaqoub AbdulMasih who is currently in Dublin, on a field trip to the historic and legendry Babylonian city, here at the Ishtar Gate.
Babylon is a very important city and legacy of Iraq and the world, whether historically or even religiously.

Babylon, 1984

My father and his friend Dr. Yaqoub AbdulMasih who is currently in Dublin, on a field trip to the historic and legendry Babylonian city.
Babylon is a very important city and legacy of Iraq and the world, whether historically or even religiously.

Babylon, 1984

My father and his friend Dr. Yaqoub AbdulMasih who is currently in Dublin, on a field trip to the historic and legendry Babylonian city.
Babylon is a very important city and legacy of Iraq and the world, whether historically or even religiously.

Babylon, 1984

My father and his friend Dr. Yaqoub AbdulMasih who is currently in Dublin, on a field trip to the historic and legendry Babylonian city.
Babylon is a very important city and legacy of Iraq and the world, whether historically or even religiously.

Babylon, 1984

Basra International Airport VIP Hall access under construction - which was later used only by the Iraqi president or very high officials.

Basra, 1986

Photos taken infront of the Basra International Airport while it was under construction.
This airport was a huge and important project due to its strategic location in the South of Iraq for business travel and economic growth and trade, etc. It should be noted that currently the state of the airport is embarrassing and shameful, only a small section of the airport is operational while the rest is closed for obvious reasons (unrest in Iraq reduced tourism and frequency of travelers into Basra) but what's upsetting is none of the facilities of this small operational portion is being maintained, serviced or fixed. All the equipments and technological advancements that were installed into this airport are mostly broken and not functioning; and rather than fixing them, they are being replaced by outdated systems.

Basra, 1986

Photos taken infront of the Basra International Airport while it was under construction.
This airport was a huge and important project due to its strategic location in the South of Iraq for business travel and economic growth and trade, etc. It should be noted that currently the state of the airport is embarrassing and shameful, only a small section of the airport is operational while the rest is closed for obvious reasons (unrest in Iraq reduced tourism and frequency of travelers into Basra) but what's upsetting is none of the facilities of this small operational portion is being maintained, serviced or fixed. All the equipments and technological advancements that were installed into this airport are mostly broken and not functioning; and rather than fixing them, they are being replaced by outdated systems.

Basra, 1986

The Iraqi Marshes - my father with his bestfriend Saeed Dhamad who is currently in Canada and friends on yet another field trip.

Al Ahwar, 1984

The Iraqi Marshes - my father with his bestfriend Saeed Dhamad who is currently in Canada and friends on yet another field trip.

Al Ahwar, 1984

My father with two of his friends standing by a Farm in Al Faw City.
Iraq has a lot of resources, agriculture, great soil, water sources, natural water flows. It is important that we highlight that there is more to Iraq than war and catastrophe.

Al Faw, 1986

My father, his two brothers in Kurdistan with their Kurdi friend. The picture was taken infront of the Gali Ali Bag Waterfall near Soran.
Iraq has a lot of resources, agriculture, great soil, water sources, natural water flows. It is important that we highlight that there is more to Iraq than war and catastrophe.

Gali Ali Bag Waterfall, Kurdistan, 1985

Basra International Airport housing compound - my father with a friend having a swim in the recreation area.

Basra, 1983

Burjesia park was one of the most common parks that families and friends went for picnics and BBQs there.

Basra, 1985

The Mesopotamian Marshlands (Al-Ahwar) have been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List, where they wrote ''The inscription of the property known as ‘The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities' is an international recognition of its outstanding universal value. With its cultural and natural features, the Marshlands played a major role in the development of the earliest urban centers and in the emergence of complex societies in southern Mesopotamia, dubbed as the Cradle of Civilization. The mixed serial property includes four natural and three cultural components, namely the Huwaizah, East and West Hammar and Central Marshes, together with the archaeological sites of Ur, Uruk and Eridu.''

Iraq is full of despair, yet filled with potential, hope and wonders.

Al Ahwar, 1980s

The construction of my grandparents house in AlGhazaliya.
This image fills me with nostalgia as firstly I did not remember the details of my grandparents house design (external); where the main thing I remember is everything on the inside, from the last time I was there in 2001 for a month, seeing my grandfather for the last time, Baghdad for the last time, this house for the last time. Not to mention that before 2001 the last time I was in Baghdad I was 6 years old.

Baghdad, 1985

The construction of my grandparents house in AlGhazaliya.
This image fills me with nostalgia as firstly I did not remember the details of my grandparents house design (external); where the main thing I remember is everything on the inside, from the last time I was there in 2001 for a month, seeing my grandfather for the last time, Baghdad for the last time, this house for the last time. Not to mention that before 2001 the last time I was in Baghdad I was 6 years old.

Baghdad, 1985

My father went on a road trip with his friends yet again to the Anah area - in this photo you can see drowned Anah with the tops of the Palm trees still on top of the water.

Anah, 1989

My father went on a road trip with his friends yet again to the Anah area - in this photo you can see Rawa as the water is rising due to the start of filling the Haditha damm.

Rawa, 1989

My father went on a road trip with his friends yet again to the Anah area - in this photo you can see Rawa as the water is rising due to the start of filling the Haditha damm.

Rawa, 1989

My father went on a road trip with his friends yet again to the Anah area - in this photo you can see Rawa as the water is rising due to the start of filling the Haditha damm.

Rawa, 1989

My father went on a road trip with his friends yet again to the Anah area - in these photos you can see the Anah Islands.

Anah, 1989

My father went on a road trip with his friends yet again to the Anah area - in these photos you can see the Anah Islands.

Anah, 1989

My father went on a road trip with his friends yet again to the Anah area and then specifically to the land facing Aloos Island which is in the Euphrates river.
Very interesting for me as it represents my heritage, family and ancestors history, they left a great memory behind them and their eagerness to be educated, be teachers, scientists, philosophers, etc. just makes me proud to have a family name that stands for a great legacy (in my opinion).

Aloos island, 1989

This lady sitting next to my father is a Basrawi singer known as Rabeaa Kareem, her music can be found on YouTube and she is pretty well known. She used to also work in the Basra Airport along with my dad.
She is very iconic, her style, character, personality, her race and career. I love the fact that she remains in history online, youtube, etc. a representation of harmony amongst the people, as Basra has a lot of colored people and there is more acceptance there than anywhere else as it's very common with a big black community and population; specifically AlZubair area in Basra.

Basra, 1985

This hole is referred to as Tilbis Prison. Hamurabi used this prison/holes when he enslaved Jews to work for him in Babylon. The jail cells were for the aggressive/dangerous Jews; they were put into that small space and a rock was inserted into the opening to close it, then a long metal bar was put through two mini openings on either side to secure it closed.

East of Anah, 1983

My parents went to Anah and Rawa during their honey moon; he wanted to introduce her to where he grew up. My mother in this photo is standing infront of a fallen meteor that has created a huge and deep hole around itself deep in the ground. This area is known as AlKhasfa or Khasfat Salman Roza (Salman Roza is a very well known professional car racer, his car fell into this hole at a night in the 50s where his car remains are still present there) or Khasfat Om AlTal.

Alkhasfa, 1989

My parents went to Anah and Rawa during their honey moon; he wanted to introduce her to where he grew up. My mother in this photo is standing infront of a fallen meteor that has created a huge and deep hole around itself deep in the ground. This area is known as AlKhasfa or Khasfat Salman Roza (Salman Roza is a very well known professional car racer, his car fell into this hole at a night in the 50s where his car remains are still present there) or Khasfat Om AlTal.

Alkhasfa, 1989

My parents went to Anah and Rawa during their honey moon; he wanted to introduce her to where he grew up. Rawa when this picture was taken was half drowned and the other half was fine as it was on a hill. After the Haditha Damm was filled, they relocated the people of Rawa to the upper area. Anah behind the person being photographed spans a length of 13kms.
My father grew up in Anah & finished high-school there, then moved to Baghdad in 1979 with his siblings and my grandparents, where he finished his bachelors. Schools in Rawa were up to Grade 9 - where students had to go to Anah to finish High-School.

Rawa, 1989

My parents went to Anah and Rawa during their honey moon; he wanted to introduce her to where he grew up. Rawa when this picture was taken was half drowned and the other half was fine as it was on a hill. After the Haditha Damm was filled, they relocated the people of Rawa to the upper area. Anah behind the person being photographed spans a length of 13kms.
My father grew up in Anah & finished high-school there, then moved to Baghdad in 1979 with his siblings and my grandparents, where he finished his bachelors. Schools in Rawa were up to Grade 9 - where students had to go to Anah to finish High-School.

Rawa, 1989

My parents went to Anah and Rawa during their honey moon; he wanted to introduce her to where he grew up. Rawa when this picture was taken was half drowned and the other half was fine as it was on a hill. After the Haditha Damm was filled, they relocated the people of Rawa to the upper area. Anah behind the person being photographed spans a length of 13kms.
My father grew up in Anah & finished high-school there, then moved to Baghdad in 1979 with his siblings and my grandparents, where he finished his bachelors. Schools in Rawa were up to Grade 9 - where students had to go to Anah to finish High-School.

Rawa, 1989

My parents went to Anah and Rawa during their honey moon; he wanted to introduce her to where he grew up. Rawa when this picture was taken was half drowned and the other half was fine as it was on a hill. After the Haditha Damm was filled, they relocated the people of Rawa to the upper area. Anah behind the person being photographed spans a length of 13kms.
My father grew up in Anah & finished high-school there, then moved to Baghdad in 1979 with his siblings and my grandparents, where he finished his bachelors. Schools in Rawa were up to Grade 9 - where students had to go to Anah to finish High-School.

Rawa, 1989

© 2020 Iraq Photo Archive // Basil Al-Rawi