Camera Project

Camera Project

Imal Hashimi is a 26-year old freelance photojournalist. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and came to Denmark as a refugee in 2009. Since he came to Denmark, he has been busy setting down and learning the language, but he is slowly finding his way back to life as a photojournalist. Next week he is going to Syria to shoot reportage photographs.

In 2006 Imal became curious to learn something new. He signed up for a one-month photography course in arranged by Austrian photographers at the Fine Arts Academy at Kabul University, where he was studying to become a film instructor. This course did not teach the students technical skills, but it encouraged them to explore the world visually. Imal, who previously only had used the family’s camera, was among three students whose talents were discovered through this course and thereby were offered to study photojournalism at Aina Media Center in Kabul.

Aina Media Center was founded in 2002 by the National Geographic photographer Reza Deghati. The photojournalism education lasted about a year, but was a condensed 4-year program. During this year, Imal discovered that photography was not as easy as he had thought hitherto. He had to learn the theories and techniques of professional photography. Imal’s skills were furthermore developed through working with other photojournalists as well as by looking at other photographers’ work. The political climate gave him the opportunity to assist professional photographers by acting as a translator and a cultural guide.  

Imal currently uses a Canon D7D, which is a digital SLR camera. Imal’s camera is remarkably heavier than the Nikon D3000, which I am using, due to its heavy technique and many layers of glass in the lens. He always hand holds the camera, due to the photojournalistic need to capture things really fast. When shooting his camera is either hanging over his shoulder or on his arm. He does not turn the camera off, nor does he cover the lens. All of this allows him to grasp his motif rapidly. His lens has an extra layer of glass which protects the lens from dirt and scratches. Imal finds the quality of photographs better when taken with an analogue camera compared to a digital camera, but what he likes about digital cameras is the opportunity to select which photographs to print and thereby the inexpensiveness. He holds his right hand on the right side of the camera in order to use the buttons, and he places his left hand around the lens to control the manual/automatic focus button, and to turn the lens in order to zoom.

Imal has two ways of working. Sometimes he is visually driven. In this situation he takes a photo when he sees something interesting. If he can connect the image to a current theme in the media world, he writes the connection down and sends it to newspaper editors in order to publish it.

His other way of working is much more time consuming and conceptual.  At first he finds a theme; then he goes to the library or on the internet to do research about the theme. He thinks about the structure of the project; he often starts out by taking a photo of the big picture and then gradually narrows it down and focuses on the details. He always considers where the light comes from, and at what time the light is optimal. He also thinks about the photo in connection to what he can write about it. Imal thinks people and actions add life to a photo. If he wants to take a photo of a person, he starts out from a distance and work himself closer; he puts the camera away and spends some time chatting with his subject to make him or her relax. If he wants to capture a certain emotion he talks to the person about a certain period in life or listens to the subject’s stories, thereby Imal can capture the subject’s best facial expressions. He does not always ask for permission to use the photos. The next step in Imal’s process is to combine the above mentioned thoughts in a shot list and then take the photographs. Imal tends to shoot a large amount of images, from which he can select the most successful ones when he gets home. He only uses Photoshop to edit light and contrast. When he has the amount of photos he has aimed for, he posts them on his blog supplemented with text from his research. According to Imal, the text emphasizes the stories he wants to pass on. His blog is built up by a factual text followed by his photos which each have a small descriptive text underneath. The blog functions as a way of marketing himself. He has several times experienced to be contacted by newspaper editors, who have seen his photos on the blog and asked him to do a certain job. However, he is currently working on the design of his website (www.imalimages.com).

Imal enjoys the adventurous life as a photojournalist, but he does not think there is enough work in Denmark; therefore most of his work is currently carried out in the Middle East. His goal is to document personal stories from warzones and pass them on to people who cannot experience them in person. Though he cannot promise anything, he hopes the photos will open our eyes and make us feel sympathy and take action.  The depressive stories he deals with sometimes makes him want to put the camera away. His work is a historical documentation.

 

According to Imal the internet is replacing the galleries, though he thinks both media have value. He could see his photographs exhibited in a historic museum as representations of a certain time in history, or in a museum dealing with Afghans or cultures in general. However, the downside of galleries is the limited access. Online on the contrary, the photographs are available to everybody all over the world and at any time. Although there are so many images to be found online, he believes it is easy to separate amateur work from professional work. Civilian work might have news value, but as soon as a professional photograph is available that is what the newspapers will use. In order to take a good photo you both need a professional camera and good skills.