As part of the GPP Slidefest this year, Saudi photographers – both professionals and enthusiasts — are invited to book a slot to meet visiting industry experts to discuss their portfolios, works-in-progress, successes and challenges. This is a rare opportunity to receive one-on-one constructive feedback, tips and recommendations; places are limited, so please be sure to register in advance and arrive on time. You will have a maximum of 15 minutes with each reviewer, and you can meet with as many or as few of the reviewers as you wish, time permitting. Reviews will be scheduled on a first come, first serve basis, so the earlier you arrive, the more reviews you’ll be able to receive.
Portfolio Reviews 2019 includes the following photographers and industry experts:
- Iman Al-Dabbagh – Freelance Photojournalist (English and Arabic)
- Mohammed Al Kouh – Fine Art Photographer (English and Arabic)
- Lola Boatwright – Managing Director of Gulf Photo Plus (English only)
- Mohamed Somji – Photographer & Director of Seeing Things & Gulf Photo Plus (English only)
Where: Beydoun Space, Jeddah
When: 1 – 2:30 pm
What to bring:
- Notebook & pen
- A maximum of 15 images, printed or digital – If you choose to present your images digitally, you must bring the images on your own laptop or tablet – not a USB drive, hard drive, or phone – and please make sure the selection is saved in one folder
- A short list of any questions you may have
Please register your attendance in advance via photography@artjameel.org
Biographies
Iman Al-Dabbagh
A self-taught Saudi photographer from and based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Iman works on assignments for international publications. She also works on self-assigned, long-term visual narratives addressing human issues, love and social taboos in conservative societies, identity, self image, and the unnoticed stories in-between. The stories she makes are narrated by her own life events and experiences. Her photographs are known for being intimate and in the moment. As a daughter of immigrants and granddaughter of refugees from both Palestine and Armenia, and growing up in a third culture, her diverse exposure to communities has taught her early to accept and respect the “other” but to also embrace the “other” in herself.
At 18, she moved to Los Angeles for higher education, where she resided for a decade studying graphic design and working in the print production and design field before becoming a photographer. Iman’s first major assignment in her country came from GEO magazin in early 2015, when she was commissioned to photograph Somayya Jabarti, the first female Saudi editor-in-chief of a newspaper. In 2016 she received a grant from Magnum Foundation / Prince Claus / AFAC for her project “3eib” (Taboo) in Saudi. And in 2019, she received the Women Photograph + Nikon USA grant.
Iman’s been published in Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Zeit, Spiegel, Sunday Times, Runner’s World, and more.
She’s been a regular contributor to @EverydayMiddleEast since 2014.
Mohammed Al Kouh
Born in 1984, Mohammed Al Kouh lives and works in Kuwait. Al Kouh is a self-taught artist who has explored different aspects of art since childhood. After graduating from Kuwait University with a BA in Business Administration & Marketing, Al Kouh took his passion to a new level. As a child he was captivated with the idea of “Stealing Souls and Keeping Them in Negatives” and began to photograph everything he wished not to lose. Photography became his way to steal his favorite moments in life and keep them in his closet.
Growing up with difficulties adapting to modern reality, he developed a great nostalgia for an era in which he never lived, an era in which everything was romantic and beautiful. With his sensitive photographic techniques, he reinterprets his subconscious in a staged realities that creates a contrast between past and present, resulting in dream-like images that allow him to be both here and there.
Mohamed Somji
Mohamed Somji was born in Tanzania in 1976 and moved to Dubai a month later, where he has since lived, save for a short interlude in the US to pursue a degree in Business Administration and Marketing. He quit his corporate career in 2006 to take up photography professionally. His editorial and documentary works provide a critical commentary on social issues. His commercial work is heavily influenced by the reportage style, an approach that lends a unique perspective to his subjects, be they interiors or editorial assignments.
Mohamed is the co-founder of Seeing Things, a photography and video agency, as well as Director of Gulf Photo Plus. In addition to offering regular photography workshops, the organization hosts a week-long annual event that draws the world’s preeminent talent in photography and hosts events and activities with a view to nurturing and developing photography talent in the region.
Lola Boatwright
Lola Boatwright is the Managing Director of Gulf Photo Plus in Dubai. She first studied analogue photography as an undergraduate at Columbia University, where her primary focus was foreign languages. Photography remained a constant, as she moved from the Czech Republic to Morocco to France and eventually, the UAE. In 3 years heading Gulf Photo Plus, she has overseen or curated 18 exhibitions of contemporary photography.