Saudi street photography is an ongoing phenomenon racing with the pulsing artistic scene in the country. For Mohammed Alfaraj, the lure of street photography and love for his hometown Alhassa, inspired interest and a career in visual media. Saudi Arabia has come a long way and documented progress in the visual arts spectrum, especially street art and photography. Alfaraj believes that arts in general are far more developed and easily accessible than they used to be. “A lot of accessible resources to learn from and technology has made it easier to communicate and get exposed, through social networking websites and blogs, where everyone can publish his/her work and show it to the world.” Born in 1993 in a village from Alhassa, Alfaraj is a Saudi photographer and filmmaker. Alfaraj grew up living in “narrow neighborhoods and walking to school between the vast palm farms.” Currently studying engineering at KFUPM, Alfaraj admits to being a cinema lover and film addict. His work has been showcased locally and internationally. His recent exhibitions have included Acumen+ photodignity auction and Dubai film festival. Story I started photography as a hobby back in 2008, but in the last two years it started to mean a lot more than that for me, now I look at it as a form of expression and a tool for storytelling. I did not get the chance to study photography as formal education, so I mainly depended on self-teaching, observing and reading. Since I started college I have done photography work for several clients and local newspapers. In July 2014 I started working for BarakaBits, A good Middle East news website which focuses on bringing good and inspiring news from the MENA countries. I want to be a full time photographer and filmmaker for one of the leading organizations in the field and bring stories from Saudi and the world. I am also planning to get a masters degree in visual arts to hopefully be an educator. Ideology I believe in what Jim Jarmusch said about how you should look for inspiration in anything, films, music, poems, random conversation... etc. People and artists who are giving themselves to the things they love and for the cause they believe in are also an inspirational source for me, like Abbas Kiarostami, Bieke Depoorter and Terrence Malik. The Visual Narrative I focus on the place and the people at the same time, trying to document the connection between the two. When I photograph anybody I talk to that person to get to know him and know who he is in an attempt to express his personality in the photograph by color, framing or any other technical tool to serve the artistry of the photo. There are some photos were taken for a ‘photo story' about the ‘Bidoon' in southern Saudi Arabia in which I tried to tell their story using as few words as I can. For example this photo has the old man in the front and the kids in the back, stating that the future of those kids in this place might not be any different than their grandfather. Present and Future I am trying to learn and experiment as much as I can to gain knowledge and experience. Now I am assisting the programming team for the upcoming Saudi film festival. I am also searching for more human-related photo stories to work on this year. One of them is about the different religions of the foreign workers in Saudi and their ability to practice it.
