Anisa Al Sharif, who runs Zoom In Photography alongside her husband. Reem Mohammed / The National
Anisa Al Sharif, who runs Zoom In Photography alongside her husband. Reem Mohammed / The National

My UAE: The big picture of Anisa Al Sharif’s photography venture



Anisa Al Sharif rates 2004 as the most intense year of her career. It was the year she coordinated the social-development section of the Dubai Government’s 2005 Strategic Plan.

“This was the first time that a comprehensive plan was developed for Dubai including all sectors,” she says. “I got the chance to understand the reality and challenges of the social sectors.”

Al Sharif’s contribution was the highlight of 13 years working for the Government. She joined the Executive Office in 2001 and then in 2006, she moved to the team that started Dubai’s ­Executive Council.

Al Sharif left her post as the director of socio-economic development in 2014. “I needed to take a break after 13 years of hard work to spend quality time with my daughter and rethink my career and life purpose,” Al ­Sharif says. “I tried to spend more time doing the things I enjoyed – I read more than 30 books, I pulled out old CDs, watched old movies ... and my husband and I started our business, Zoom In ­Photography.”

The venture, an in-hospital photography service for new parents, was born after their daughter Jana arrived, three years ago.

“We were so overwhelmed and forgot to take any photos. Luckily, the hospital had a photographer who took pictures – those ended up being the only ones we have from her first days,” she says. “This journey has made us think of some ways we can support them even beyond capturing their treasured memories.”

Al Sharif also plans to launch a parenting-support programme. “I’m really hoping I can create a platform to support Emirati and Arab parents, giving them the insights, skills and tools necessary to build strong emotional connections with their kids.”

When not working, she immerses herself in books.

“I was, and still am, a bookworm,” she says. “If anyone is looking for me, they’ll always find me with my head buried in a book.”

What's your all-time favourite film?

Little Women – I read the novel for the first time when I was 12, and fell in love with it. I identified particularly with the character of Jo, and a few years later, I saw the movie, and it became my all-time favourite.

What sort of car do you drive? What does it say about you?

I drive a Mini Cooper. It’s small and easy-going, but strong and sturdy on the road.

What's your favourite holiday destination?

I love Mediterranean countries. Tuscany in Italy is a place that’s always been fascinating to me. I always hoped to retire there in a house on top of the hills, with lots of books and time to write and think.

What's your favourite landmark in the UAE to tell tourists about?

Dubai Creek. A tour in an abra is something that you shouldn’t miss if you want to experience Dubai.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want with you?

Books, seeds to grow vegetables and more books.

What do you do to relax?

I’m an introvert, and I need lots of “me” time to recharge, so reading a good book or watching cooking channels is good for me.

What's the best piece of advice you have been given?

Funnily enough, it’s advice that all travellers hear, but maybe only a few would think of as wisdom: ‘In case of emergency, help yourself before trying to help others’. If you think about it, you can apply it to almost every area in life.

What music do you have on repeat at the moment?

These days I’m listening to a great Arab singer, Rim Banna. Her latest record is amazing, mostly Sufi poems, which I love, and great music. She herself is an inspiration, because she’s fighting cancer at the moment, and going public about it – the pictures of her with her shaved head is inspiring many women around the Arab world.

If you could invite any three people to dinner at your house, who would they be?

Michael Bublé, Sir Ken Robinson (he’s an international education and creativity speaker, and I love the way he challenges the current education systems) and Jamie Oliver. I could listen to these three talking about their passions forever.

What is your favourite food?

I love sushi. I can’t get enough of it.

mhealy@thenational.ae

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Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

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Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

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● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

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Uefa Champions League last 16, second leg
Liverpool (0) v Atletico Madrid (1)
Venue: Anfield
Kick-off: Thursday, March 12, midnight
Live: On beIN Sports HD

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Artist: Coldplay

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Rating: 3/5

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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
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What is graphene?

Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.

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It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.

It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.

Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.

The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.

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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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Name: HyperSpace
 
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Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal

Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.

School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.

“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.  

“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”

pakistan Test squad

Azhar Ali (capt), Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari