Staying in focus

Taiseerah Al Barram, legal researcher and professional photographer, Member of The Photography Club, Omani Society for Fine Arts

The camera was an omniscient, all-seeing presence throughout our lives. Our father documented all-important milestones in (the lives of) my siblings and I using the camera: our house is dotted with numerous photographs capturing those significant moments.

I started to take pictures myself when I turned 12 and became involved with the Photography Club at school. I still cherish those first photographs that I took of the towns, Nakhl and Samail.

I consider photography as a means of transforming the mundane and ordinary into the extraordinary through the medium of the lens.

For example, most people will not see anything particularly remarkable about this sugar container in front of me. However, I will compose and photograph this container in such a manner that it is transformed into an interesting object.

I had once photographed a selection of perfume bottles after which someone confessed that seeing those images made her examine the very same bottles that she also possessed but whose beauty she never came to appreciate until she saw them in my photographs.

Of photography and painting
Many people often paint using a photograph as inspiration while I consider photography to be an act of painting itself. I liken the act of composing a photograph to the composition of a painting.

I feel that a photograph captures the moment in its exactness while a painter may use that very same moment in his painting only to alter and imbue its essence with his individuality. Having said that, I would like to add that I am also fond of painting: I particularly like to paint and photograph horses.

I studied law at Kuwait University and am working as a legal researcher at Oman Housing Bank. Photography and law are also closely intertwined for certain cases are often mediated or resolved through the use of photographic evidence.

Photographs are also valuable in documenting present-day events. I also feel that the usage of photographs can be particularly relevant in spreading awareness of social causes, such as photographs of injured, battered women in issues pertaining to domestic abuse.

An image is capable of articulating a thousand words: a visual statement is perhaps more likely to impact the viewer than perhaps the lines of words below it.

Brushes and lenses, canvas and the eye
Photography is an uncommon interest in comparison to painting, for example. It requires you to invest both time and money. In pre-digital camera times, considerable expenses were involved in purchasing and developing films.

Also, purchasing lenses for the camera can often be as expensive as the main body of the camera itself. Painting materials such as canvas, paint, and brushes, on the other hand, are more readily accessible.

The internet however has proved to be an invaluable tool for me for further expanding my knowledge of photography. I have discovered great online photography websites, which function as forums of sorts where users can post their photographs and provide feedback to one another, whether it is constructive criticism or praise.

Everything you see can be a photograph
I often wish that I could carry a camera around with me wherever I go! The other day, while caught in a traffic jam, I spotted a bird perched inside an empty picture-frame suspended from a lamp post. It was such a riveting sight that I regretted not having a camera with me.

For me, taking photographs is an instinctive reaction: I was once sitting in my room at home and was feeling bored so I ended up photographing a selection of traditional silver Omani jewellery.

However, although I would like an audience to view and appreciate my photographs, whether it has been through print or electronic media or participating and winning in exhibitions, there are some instances in which I take photographs exclusively for myself.

Multitudes in a single image
I am always open to experimentation regarding photography. I feel that there will be opportunities for further dialogues through innovations in the way we present a photograph.

For instance, I would like to create an image composed of many individual photographs, forming a collage of pictures; these photographs should collectively narrate a story when seen in totality.

I am also constantly playing around with my photographs while using Photoshop software, tweaking them to produce entirely new creations from existing images.

There are very few female professional photographers in Oman at the moment. This absence may be due to the fact that photography requires women to constantly move around as well as necessitating hours in honing and fine-tuning one's talent.

Women also require support from their families, fathers and husbands, to pursue this interest. I have to admit that I have received a lot of support from my parents, particularly my father.

He always accompanies me wherever I wish to go in order to take photographs, as does my brother. I have visited many parts of Oman in my quest of photography.

However, I do feel that I am not taken as seriously as a male photographer would be! I do not think there is a huge difference between subjects that male and female photographers prefer.

(In Oman), I personally feel that women photographers are both inclined and more effective in portraying children whereas male photographers of an earlier generation were more comfortable shooting subjects within certain thematic parameters, such as Oman's heritage.

I recognise and take pride in Oman's undoubtedly rich past but I am equally interested in highlighting the incredible changes happening in its present.

Snapshots

I love:
Photographing little children, especially those dressed in traditional attire.

Favourite photographers:
Photography websites, such as www.qatar-photo.com and www.adigicam.com enabled me to discover works of Qatari photographers such as Khalid Bin Seif, Hamed Al Naimi, Khalid Al Harbi, and Manal Amro. Their generosity in sharing their knowledge of photography is truly commendable.

I once e-mailed a Qatari photographer, complimenting his work; this particular photographer was a fount of knowledge, having published a book on the subject. He responded and asked for my address before mailing his book to me a few days later (having gauged my interest in photography!).

I hope to hold an exhibition soon in Qatar where I can then have the opportunity of meeting these photographers in person.