After al-Ani's retirement, his work was virtually forgotten.Arango, T., "Picturing Iraq in a Bygone Era", New York Times, Online: He recalled stopping at a news kiosk in 2005 where they were giving away free calendars; and upon inspection, he realised that more than half of the photographs were his own work, but reproduced without any attribution to him since no one knew the photographer.Holledge, E., "Capturing the Social Fabric" Gulf News, 13 December 2017 Online: His contribution to Iraqi art and culture was 'rediscovered' by a team from the Ruya Foundation, who were working to preserve Iraq's artistic heritage and came across al-Ani's collection.Arab British Centre, "The Ruya Foundation Presents Latif al-Ani" Online: In late 2017, they mounted a solo exhibition of Al-Ani's work at Coningsby Gallery in London. This event, combined with the publication of a monograph about the artist, stirred considerable interest in the photographer and his work.Pelletier, M., "Images of a Vanished World", Apollo Magazine 7 December 2017 Online:
