RONALD CODRAI
A photographer's wish to record a slice of UAE history has been realised with the opening of an exhibition of photographs taken by the late Ronald Codrai. "Faces of the Emirates", an exhibition of 100 black and white photographs by Codrai, was opened by Dr Abdullah El-Reyes, Director General of the Centre for Documentation and Research, a division of the presidential court, at the Hotel Inter-Continental, an exhibition sponsor.
The photographs form a preview of a book of the same name which will be released by Motivate Publishing in May to coincide with the anniversary of Codrai's death. Elder son Christian Codrai, who was also present at the opening, said, "When my father knew he was dying of cancer in 1999, he wanted to put records of his friends from the 1940s and 50s into print, but he died before he could complete the project."
Christian Codrai and his younger brother, Justin, then collated the remaining photographs and tried to complete the work. Their father took pictures of people from all walks of life and that is represented in this exhibition. The Codrai family is proud of the exhibition, but their pride is tinged with sadness that their father cannot be here to see it.
