Born in 1970 in Ibb Yemen, I began primary school studies at age twelve, my studies were interrupted when I moved to Saudi Arabia seven years later in 1989. In Saudi Arabia, i used to worked in my grandfather’s photography studio.
My journey as a photographer only really started Abha. Abha is the capital of the mountainous Aseer region of South Western Saudi Arabia and shares an ancient culture with Yemen through traditional trading routes which connect Asia to the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea. in Abha, my new home, under my grandfather’s tutelage that I learned about photography, analogue printing and coloring. The sound of the camera shutter and the images that would slowly appear in our dark room were like magic to me. As I worked in the lab, I challenged myself to learn everything I could about photography.
After some time, I wanted to educate myself even more through distance learning with (ISC distance learning)American school by mail, but the language became a barrier to my ambition; I spent hours translating each word just to understand the lesson. During these days of wonder and frustration at the Abha Photo Lab, I came into regular contact with a group of Saudi artists who had formed a radical collective at the Al Meftaha Arts Village. That artists collective, which called itself Shattah meaning ‘to be broken apart’, included Ahmed Mater, Ashraf Fayadh, and Abdulnasser Gharem, and went on to start a movement which changed the Saudi art scene forever. As customers of Abha Photo Lab, they began asking me to help photograph their artworks and projects. Through these collaborations, I realized that photography can be a kind of art of ideas, a platform to tell my story and convey a message to the world without the need for literal. I im an independent artist specializes in documentary photography and scrutinizing the facts of the forgotten memory of Yemen in conceptual scenarios, revolving around the strings of Yemen's past, present and future, his work explores Yemen's cultural and political narratives against the background of regional conflict and global transformation.