I returned reluctantly to the country in 2008 as a 22 year-old fresh out of Boston University and ended up spending over a decade documenting the immense changes in the UAE. I spent many years as a photojournalist and multimedia journalist in the UAE working for The National and then later for the Associated Press before I turned freelance and co-founded Kerning Cultures. I spent my days driving around the UAE documenting intimate parts of people’s lives and the amazing people willing to tell their story. From the older Emirati women in Ras Al Khaimah just learning to read and write, to the day the metro first opened, to shooting horrendous fires in the city and speaking to people in the aftermath of their displacement, to the everyday mom struggling with cancer. I went and explored places all over the country, capturing everyday slices of life in places that people don’t usually go to. I covered big concerts and small gigs, as well as shooting A-list celebrities, ambassadors, presidents and royal family members. I’ve managed to gather some of my personal favourites, which I realise is not necessarily the most action packed or exciting, but more so the intimacy of daily life for many of the locals as the country was changing so rapidly.