When I was young, I had an eye allergy and suffered from itchy, watery, and red eyes. There were no qualified optometrists in Somalia then, which made me want to become a doctor. My father was also a well-known physician, and like him, I wanted to relieve pain and restore hope to my people. So, I moved to the capital of Hargeisa to study optometry and optometry training at Hargeisa University.
There are many similarities between the human eye and a camera. Both have lenses that work in similar ways by bending light to reach the eye or camera’s back. This is also known as an eye’s retina or a camera’s film. There are many other similarities, but what’s more interesting is that I developed a passion for the human eye and photography from a very young age. I think I was destined to bridge science and art.
My family liked the photos I took as a child. We had a digital camera and I remember photographing sunsets, which I organized into several albums. At the age of 18, I started my journey of documenting “street stories” using a smartphone and Instagram. Street stories are the everyday lives we see on the streets, from people hustling and laughing to others shopping at colorful vendors. I wanted to show the world the beauty of the Somali people and the richness of our culture. My journey is now considered a successful African story that is changing the image of Somalia. It’s been published in many Pan-African platforms and featured on CNN’s “African Voices.”
So many stories have been left unseen, unrevealed, and untold to others. It is an extraordinary feeling to be able to speak through my pictures. My dream is to teach fellow youth to record their stories in photographs and share them with the world. It is very simple, but its impact on the world is anything but.
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