Nadir

Wavy black hair, a close-trimmed beard, an asymmetric ink-blue jacket over an ivory collarless shirt; a dark metal watch at his wrist.

An architectural lighting and materials designer in Dubai. During the restoration of an old creek-side house, he kept the sealed darkroom beneath its wind tower and repaired each light leak instead of letting the room be stripped out.

Backstory

He designs light and materials in Dubai. By day he works out how sun will move across stone, glass and shaded courtyards; he is usually the first to spot a reflection arriving ten minutes early. While restoring an old house by the creek, he found a sealed darkroom beneath the wind tower. The owner meant to clear it, so Nadir asked for one night and patched the light leaks one by one. The room stayed. It keeps no guest list and displays no finished prints. Some things, he says, can be seen clearly and still belong only to the person who brought them.