In pictures: Iraq’s history lines walls of cafe in Arbil

Mam Khalil’s love affair with pictures began when he was still a young man. Safin Hamed / AFP

The 96-year-old began collecting them, turning the cafe into a gallery awash with photos that portray Iraq as it moved through monarchy, dictatorship and into its current fragile democracy. Safin Hamed / AFP

‘I don’t love money, but I love photos,’ says the ageing man with a thin grey moustache, known by the affectionate title of ‘Mam’, meaning ‘uncle’ in Kurdish. Safin Hamed / AFP

Though small and located on a sidestreet in the city’s covered market, the cafe is well-known in Arbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region. Safin Hamed / AFP

Arbil has changed significantly since Mam Khalil first began his career. When he was a youth, there was only the citadel, which still towers over the market and four neighbourhoods, he says. Safin Hamed / AFP

But oil money has since transformed it into a sprawling city of gleaming new buildings and modern infrastructure. Safin Hamed / AFP

Mam Khalil began working in 1948 before moving to his current cafe a few years later. Safin Hamed / AFP

He used to hang photos on its walls, much to the chagrin of his boss, who “hated it” but let him continue because he worked hard. Safin Hamed / AFP

But after buying the cafe in 1967, he was free to hang as many photos as the walls could hold. Safin Hamed / AFP

From monarchy to dictatorship to the current fragile democracy, the walls of this cafe in Arbil tells them all.