Rajab Mala Rafiq.. The amateur who documented the history of Kurdistan with pictures

Shafaq News/ Pictures document events more remarkably than speech or notation, as pictures grant incidents and personalities it portrays a living dimension that sails through the soul and wanders in the sea of meditation and interaction.

As incidents that are written or spoken -especially from contemporary history- are considered incomplete if no footage was available.

Rajab Mala Rafiq was born in 1952 in Sarshaqam neighborhood in Al-Sulaymaniyah. What started as an avocation for him, became a huge archive consisting of thousands of segments from Kurdistan's history frozen into pictures. His archive serves as a memoir for a variety of popular and even unknown political, social and sports figures. Rajab launched a self-funded photo exhibition that is now open for the public. 

The amateur photographer told Shafaq News agency that his collection contains photographs of prominent political figures such as Mala Mustafa Barzani, as well as a rarity of pictures of many characters. 

Rajab's footage-collecting journey dates back to 10 years ago when he first hanged a picture in his real estate office in Al-Sulaymaniyah. Following his passion, Rajab changed his office into a gallery years later. 

Rajab is not only concerned about taking care of his collections, but also preserving it after his death. He stated that he bequeathed his collection to his wife and four children to keep up the journey he started.

Rajab submitted a request to the authorities in Kurdistan to sponsor his project, as this unique project represents another dimension of the region's history through pictures of its heroes.

"I love all the pictures I've collected. Each of which tells a story or sums up a historical event", Rajab concluded.