Photography was not just a hobby, but rather it became an urgent humanitarian issue that occupies the interest of the young Yemeni photographer, Jihad Muhammad, who seeks to capture footage fraught with suffering, through which she conveys the tragedies of Yemen’s sad to the world away from the distortion and flatness circulated by the local and international media, and monitors Jihad through her lens. The faces of the simple people, the diaries of the marginalized, the war-displaced, the wounded, and those fleeing the inferno of poverty and the scourge of the siege. It also cooperates with humanitarian organizations to reduce health problems, cholera diseases and malnutrition for children in the countryside of Yemeni cities, such as Hajjah, Taiz and the western coast in Hodeidah.
Yemen’s pain from the mirror of the lens
In her interview with Al Arabiya.net, Jihad says: “I am always looking for human stories that embody suffering or carry a message or a shipment of urgent feelings to the conscience of the world, telling him that a country called Yemen is still suffering and bleeding over the rubble of destruction, counting the number of its victims and saying goodbye to smiles His returning children are corpses carried from the inferno of the fronts.”
She adds: “I seek to make all peoples see the pain of Yemen through the mirror of my lens, whether it is feelings of happiness or expressions of pain and sadness, as well as my interest in conveying the suffering of women in all its chapters, to show how great and strong she is despite the war and siege, and how she proved herself in a tribal society such as To whom”.
Radiation of peace and a message of protest
In Jihad’s view, the image represents a radiance of peace and a message of protest against injustice, oppression and conflicts, which claimed the lives of innocent people, noting that the images of street life have a great impact on tickling the human conscience, whether they are the image of children playing or the laboring features of an elderly man, as they convey expressions People affected by the situation who lost their homes and then became displaced in displacement camps.
Jihad says: “In Yemeni society, we rarely see a female field photographer who cares about the humanitarian aspect, and seeks to transmit photographic messages through these images… She has transformed photography from a mere hobby into a source of income,” considering that it is a voice that is not blocked by any authority, nor suppressed by any Wassila, “It is my only way of expression and influence, in order for peace and security to return to my country, and to live in harmony.”
Smiles on the ruins of houses
Jihad continues to publish her photos on her Instagram page, where she is followed by about 32,000 followers, and most of her clips monitor the chapters of childhood suffering in Yemen, and document the tragedies of children in a time of poverty and siege. She points out that the most prominent feelings, scenes and expressions that catch them in their features is the smile, describing it as a method of resistance against violence, wars and killing machines, and continues by saying: “Children are always the great victims of these tragedies that occur in Yemen, despite this, we still see their smiles while they play on the ruins. their homes.”
A picture describing the situation in Yemen, and another that broadcasts a smile of hope
In the same context, Jihad owns a large archive of photos, but she considers the photo she took in the center of the parties in Sana’a, as a picture that describes the state of Yemen in the rubble of conflicts, as it embodied the image of a prosthetic leg for a girl who lost her leg during the war. In addition to another shot of a girl in the Haraz region, smiling among the stones, “It was a picture that gives hope and optimism for a more beautiful tomorrow. Every person smiles when he sees her.”
Jihad adds, “I have another picture of two girls playing on the rubble of a car. And a group picture that depicts child labor selling strawberries despite the fatigue and the heat of the sun, but the smile did not leave their faces, and I have a picture of a little girl sobbing forcibly among the piles of destroyed her home.”
Photographing the buildings of the old city of Sana’a
Jihad also undertakes heritage preservation initiatives, as it has photographically documented the buildings of the old city of Sana’a, including its lanes, mosques, and ancient neighborhoods. It has also cooperated with the “Handy Cap” organization to cover the stories of some children amputees due to the war, describing it as one of the most tragic and tragic experiences in its photography experience, and explains: “The idea of entering the Limb Center was in Sana’a, where I found all the children there had amputated feet or hands, or both, and the sad thing is that these children who came from different governorates of Yemen, lost their limbs either due to the fires of the fronts or the bombing, mines and remnants of war in Taiz and the suburbs of Sana’a and others and came to this The center to give them prosthetic limbs and to train them to walk,” noting that her role was to document the stories of some children, including Ahmed, Omar and Abeer, who came to the center for treatment and training in walking with prosthetic limbs. Many activists, influencers and representatives of humanitarian organizations interacted with these images.
Showing the bright side to the marginalized
Jihad’s work did not stop at a problem, issue or tragedy affecting her community unless she had an initiative. She was able, in cooperation with the “Search for Common Ground” organization, to produce awareness materials, videos and photos, about the marginalized and the displaced. “My role in the initiative lies in finding success stories,” Jihad says. From them, transferring it to society and showing the bright side of the marginalized, which has long been hidden in Yemen.”
pictures of working women
Jihad also participated in many local and international competitions, and won many prizes and won first places. She also participated, in cooperation with the GIZ, in transmitting pictures of women working in Yemen and their influential role in building society, whether they were doctors, engineers, farmers, athletes, broadcasters and others, She added, “I tried to show the role of Yemeni women and the extent of their involvement in several fields, and I documented their sincerity and dedication to their work.”
Fighting harassment and combating violence against women
Jihad employed her lens in many initiatives and awareness campaigns, whether it varied between combating harassment or combating violence against women. She also documented photographic stories within the Women in Leadership campaign, which aims at the importance of the presence of women in social and economic life in Yemen, stressing that the image has a soft impact in bringing about positive change. In moving opinion and conscience in her community. She added: “I have felt supportive reactions, especially in the harassment campaigns that have spread widely in the social media, and I received impressions from supporters and opponents of this phenomenon, and some agreed that the phenomenon of harassment must be reduced, while others saw that the subject was exaggerated, justifying the harassment behavior as Because of repression, pressure and high dowries.”
She added, “In the campaign against violence against women, I posted on my Instagram page many stories of women who were subjected to violence and rape, and their stories were transmitted for the first time.”
