A Photo Competition in Mogadishu

I’m working with a group of university students doing a workshop in photography and storytelling and this week, we had a competition!

Each student had to experiment with light and also just take a few photos of things they love. Then they had to pick their two favorites and submit them. Winners get disposable cameras to continue their work, which I’ll showcase on my website. They did some amazing work and really captured a variety of sights around Mogadishu. Here are some of the photos, and the winners below.

It was difficult to pick, but in the end, I chose Mimi and Ubax as my two winners, and Munira and Sharif as tied for runner up. This means that Mimi and Ubax will each be given a disposable camera to capture more images which I will then get developed and showcase the digital images next month!

Munira and Sharif will share a camera and each get 12 shots to capture the images they want of Mogadishu as well.

Here are the winning shots of each photographer:

These two are by Mimi. I love how she captured a lot of movement and energy, joy and happiness in these phottos. I also love the colors and texture — the sand in the second picture, and the patterns of cloth and the ceiling of the bajaj in the first.

These are Ubax’s photos. I love the color, and how she captured everyday, normal life. I like the first one best because it shows friendship, and I like the symmetry of how the hands of the girls are touching as they play a game.

Here are Munira and Sharif’s photos:

Left: photo by Sharif — — — — — — — — — -Right, photo by Munira

Sharif’s photo of a young child is powerful in her emotion and I love the composition he chose, with the left side and right side blurred, and the child in focus. Sharif also did an amazing job describing his purpose in taking the photo and what it meant to him. He explained that anyone in Somalia who sees this photo immediately knows the hardship of a child like this who has no home and no education, but that if this child were to be given a chance, she would be fierce in her ambition and work hard to change her life.

I love Munira’s photo because of the joy and emotion that can be seen in friendship and community. It reminds me of the beautiful support system and friendship I have seen in the Filantech community. A group of young people encouraging each other and choosing to build something together.

Lastly, an honorable mention goes to Alia for these great photos. I love the composition and the lighting, and how she chose to take pictures of things that may be common, but they can still be beautiful. Alia talks about how much she loves her beautiful city of Mogadishu, and I can see why! She’s got a great eye for capturing it.

I love the colors and the lighting and the way the cat’s eyes are lit up. Also, capturing a big section of the wall like this is an interesting angle and shows off how the colors match the cat.

I love this one for the texture, the composition, and colors. The way the palm tree curves and how the tip of it goes right to the corner of the photo. Beautiful!