BEGINNING OF THE STORY by NASSER HAJI MALEK, UEA. April – May 2024
On April 4, 2020, the opening ceremony of the "Beginning of the Story" exhibition by Nasser Haji Malek took place at the EC FIAP in Reus, Catalonia. We had the honour of having the author present, who was able to tell us personally the reason for his collection and also gave us clues to find out the meaning of some of the works that, as he told us the Nasser, are part, moments, of his life.
NASSER HAJI MALEK, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Nasser Haji Malek is a creative photographer from the United Arab Emirates.
He has exhibited his work in the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Egypt, Italy, Oman and China. He has acted as a juror in numerous international salons.
He has won more than 150 awards in international salons around the world in Italy, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Norway, Hungary, Egypt, England, India, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Scotland, Slovakia, China, Russia, Armenia, South Africa, United States of America, Montenegro, Romania, Nepal, Andorra, Spain, Finland, France, Belgium, Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, Colombia and Luxembourg. It should be noted that among these awards he has won 12 Gold Medals from the International Federation of Photographic Art, FIAP.
He is FIAP Liaison Officer in the United Arab Emirates.
He holds the GPU Grand Master, GPU Crown2, GPU VIP2 and GPU Zeus accolades from the Global Photographic Union.
It has Bronze PSA recognition from the Photographic Society of America.
Finally, he is a Silver FIAP Excellence, EFIAP/s, and is a FIAP Master, MFIAP, which is the highest recognition that FIAP gives to an author for his photographic work.
BEGINNING OF THE STORY
The Beginning of the Story is part of my life, born in November 1960, I am the father of two children.
The beginning of the story is a photographic project that has lasted eight years and is made up of sixty-five works. The project is inspired by my personal life and some events that have affected me in one way or another. Each work represents an individual story or event, but ultimately the images combine to form a complete story. As part of my life, the images in this story, I think include my personal character with its contradictions. Formally, this also unites all my works, even though the content and meaning varies from one work to another. The beginning of the story has been based on solid principles and criteria and a clear objective from the beginning. I think it is a powerful project that can have continuity throughout life. For those people who are part of my life or who surround me, this project will be part of their memory and I think it will also please those who contemplate it later.
The beginning of the story has been made in black and white. Black and white abayas* have been used to symbolize the contradictions in my personality and feelings, a way of reinforcing the will not to live in a grey area. This symbolism is black or white to clearly define my destiny. I always want my decisions to be clear so that they are understood correctly by others. That's why it also annoys and confuses me when others make unclear or contradictory decisions.
The beginning of the story also wants to document real and painful events and feelings in order to relive them. The repetition of certain elements that make up most of the images denotes the recurrence of these feelings in my life.
The beginning of the story will continue to be shrouded in an aura of a certain mystery in some events, with the disappearance of the hero of the story, whom I always try not to reveal clearly. After eight years I finished the project, the story, but in reality it still beats inside me, it is therefore an end of the story as a project on paper, but that I will live forever.
Nasser Haji Malek
*The abaya is a dress worn by women in most Arab countries. The design may vary from country to country and is black only to preserve its purity and beauty.
This exhibition is a production of the CE FIAP at the CIMIR in Reus.
You can see some of the images from the exhibition in the collection with which the author obtained MFIAP recognition in 2020 at: https://www.fiap.net/en/portfolios/mfiap/nasser-ha...