An Omani student, studying business management in the United States. Literally this is the hardest question for me to answer.

What inspires you to photograph?

I have always wanted to share what I see with my eyes with people. I believe what I see is different, because I see it from a different perspective due to my upbringing, travel and experiences. Right now, I am trying my best to translate my ideas and visuals into pictures or videos.

Are you using film or digital? What do you like to work with most and why?

I started using digital but I am currently experiencing more with film photography. I love film, because the results of the negatives always surprise me. I don’t edit my film pictures unless there is dust or scratches on the negatives.

What are the reoccurring themes in your work and is there a reason for this?

I use photography as a means of expressing my own visuals. I take pictures to emphasize diversity in artistic and unique combinations. These combinations help me to interact with different people who have a unique understanding of life. My goal is to make people curious and have a desire to accept every person in this planet no matter the different gender, age, color, culture, religion, etc.

So, as an Omani, I am trying my best to introduce the world to my culture. Because there are so many people who don’t know a thing about Oman. I wanted to introduce them to it, in my own way, to show people, that our culture fits with any culture. I tried to emphasize that in the photos i took back in the summer of 2016. For example, the photos I submitted, were my visuals of how Omanis would look like if they are “westernized.” Hence the title of the series “Westernized Omanis”.

Tell me about the art scene in Oman, and what’s it like for emerging Artists?

I was actually surprised last year when I met a lot of artists here in Oman. Every artists has their own unique style, and what I love about them is that they support each other to improve the art scene in Oman.

Connect us with a few of your favourite Arab Artists at the moment.

Visual artists: Safa AlBeluchi

Illustrator: Ruqaiya AlBalushi

Oud player: Amal Waqar