How does your photography reveal you?
- Mohamed Yusuf
- Sep 29, 2017
- 2 min read
How does your photography reveal you?
This is a question that I had to answer for a photography competition that I recently took part in. It was quite a reflective practise as I have never articulated my photographic philosophy and the way it encapsulates me.
With the help of my lovely friends (Frankie & Adonis), I have been able to do this. It was both a therapeutic and a learning experience.
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I use photography as a means of expression through which I seek to document and communicate the beauty and ugliness of the world around me. The people captured through my photographic lens fascinate and compel me to take action. I find them calling out on my deepest set of values and morals forcing me to shine a light on those left on the margins of society and forgotten.
It is important to me that the themes I choose to photograph are diverse. When I examine my existing portfolio, I can instantly feel and explain their significance. For example, one of the photographs I submitted involves two elderly men sitting on a bench outside a restaurant in Piccadilly gardens, Manchester. They are both sitting upright and tall, ignoring the number of years on their backs. Captured between them is a younger homeless man who is an amputee (is he a veteran?). He is the exact opposite to them as he is laying on the same bench collapsed and far from being composed. His leg is reaching for the ground next to where his prosthetic leg has fallen. The elderly men appear familiar as they are looking into the distance. They both project a sense of nostalgia that connects them to each other. The young man is not afforded such a dignified presence. The top part of his body is out of sight, hidden behind one of the elderly men. This to me emphasises how the homeless are so often faceless, and the forgotten citizens of our society.
Through my experience as a Musculoskeletal Rehabilitator for the British Military I worked closely with soldiers and professionals, who were able to express first-hand accounts of the homelessness that affects veterans. I learned that it is common for soldiers to form a dependence on the services provided by the Military. Everything from simple cooking to accommodation arrangements, health care, routine and daily structures are set within a rigid life-style that cannot be replicated outside of the military. When they are injured and unable to continue their service they are discharged from the Military, often lacking a sense of autonomy over their everyday living. Many cannot healthily integrate back into society and struggle to do basic things that we often learn in early adulthood such as cooking proper meals, paying bills and taxes, and applying for jobs.
The acquired knowledge in these areas informs the way that I observe the world and my process as a photographer. This determines how I tell and compose a story. My work reveals my experiences, highlighting the connection that I feel with the people in my photographs.
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