Writers, photographers Put Sharjah in Focus through Fine Art Books at SIBF

Writers and photographers behind the debut titles of Sarab — Kalimat Group’s newly launched imprint described their works as definitive records of Sharjah’s identity, capturing the emirate’s architecture, culture, and landscape through a carefully balanced interplay of image and text.

Their reflections came during a session held at the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2025), featuring contributors, Mohammed Mahdi Humaidah, Saeed Saeed, Dany Eid, Diaa Murad, and Majed Al Bastaki, who collaborated on Sharjah from the Sky, Mosques of Sharjah, and Sharjah Libraries. The panel explored the creative process behind these titles, focusing on how visual storytelling and written narrative converge to construct a multidimensional portrait of the emirate.

Author Mohammed Mahdi Humaidah, who wrote Mosques of Sharjah and Sharjah Libraries, said the books were conceived to preserve the emirate’s cultural and architectural memory by uniting narrative and visual detail. Marking a century since the establishment of Sharjah’s first library, the project treated words and images as parallel forms of expression. “Photographs carry meaning and writing evokes a clear visual sense,” Humaidah explained, adding that the collaboration between writers and photographers became “a creative test of who could best reflect the subject’s essence.” The result, he noted, was a seamless experience moving between historical, descriptive, and poetic modes.

Photographer Dany Eid, who shot Sharjah from the Sky, shared insights from an intensive 20-day shoot covering more than 45 locations. Averaging 15 hours of aerial work daily, he captured Sharjah’s natural landscapes, heritage sites, and modern infrastructure — from the BEEAH headquarters and Al Suhub Rest Area to the archaeological zones of Mleiha. Eid said that photographing the emirate from above revealed “a spatial clarity impossible to see from the ground,” allowing him to present Sharjah’s natural, historical, and urban dimensions as one interconnected whole.

Photographer Diaa Murad, who worked on Mosques of Sharjah, recounted the extensive fieldwork that took him across dozens of mosques to identify the most compelling compositions. The month-long project yielded more than 200 images, documenting each structure’s architectural detail and historical context from sweeping exterior shots to intricate close-ups of mihrabs and domes treated as visual artefacts. Murad said the project refined his approach to composition and deepened his understanding of Islamic architectural heritage.