People of Ras Al Khaimah
We're back from the summer hiatus, and last week we kicked off our 2018-19 lecture series with a visit from Anna Zacharias and Jeff Topping, who shared the story behind their beautiful book of stories, ‘People of Ras Al Khaimah.’ Anna describes the book as “full of superheroes,” many of whom are her friends and neighbors. Originally Canadian, she grew up in RAK, having arrived with her family ‘for a few years’ and stayed on—a story that is so common to many of us in the UAE. She and Jeff, an American photojournalist, met on assignment for the National, and this incredible labour of love is their best attempt to represent RAK in all its diversity. They selected people from the four topographies of the emirate—sea, desert, mountains and cityscape—and all ages and backgrounds. There are sea captains telling stories of shipwrecks off the coast of Oman, honey collectors, former Pakistani champion wrestlers, goat herders, and many entrepreneurs, from hairdressers t