Sammy Dallal has been a photographer with The National for six years, joining before the April 2008 launch. At the end of the month he leaves us to return to the United States. We asked him to look back at his time in the UAE and choose some of is favourite images and moments from his time here.
“I will look back at The National and my time in the UAE with fondness,” he said. “The friends I have made and the people I have photographed have all contributed to a memorable experience here. The selected photos are a brief chronicle of my time. They may not be the best photos I have taken while working for The National, but they represent memorable moments for me. Probably the most memorable experience was the time I spent in Algeria photographing the Sahrawi refugees in the Western Sahara. The reporter and I spent five days documenting the situation there. That type of documentary work has always appealed to me the most.
“I am often asked which photo is my favourite. It is a question which I try to avoid answering, mainly because I don’t see the photos I capture as one being better then another. All the photos I take represent a memory or experience that is special in its own right.”
