They connected their love fo photography and community, through a festival that was created by those young and aspiring photographers, who didn’t spend a cent.
Mohammed joins us to talk about an experience he and his photographer friends went through. They had organized a festival in his home town in Libya to share the roots of his culture and to teach people in his community about the beauty of photography.
Brainstorm your idea and then bring it to life
The idea surfaced as they realized the cultural problem present in the Libyan community. People were shy of portraying their cultural clothing, as well as not familiar with the art of photography. So they came up with the idea of doing a salute to their culture; by involving the culture in awareness campaigns.
He also wanted the world to get introduced to the unique and flavorful Libyan culture.
How to market your photography event
So by simply sending the invitation on Facebook messenger and Instagram to their friends and families, and asking them to share it with their acquaintances, they came up with this big and innovative festival.
At first, they were attacked and criticized by others, telling them that it’s a crazy and stupid idea. But Mohammed and his friends didn’t take those comments into consideration, and went on planning for the event.
On the day of the festival, they didn’t believe the success of it. 100s of people came and were so happy and excited about taking their pictures in their cultural ensembles. It was like a social experiment; people getting introduced to the art of photography, and Mohammed’s personal impact on the Libyan society as a whole.
They were around 5-7 photographers in Al Bayda square eagerly waiting for people to join, even though at first Mohammed had his doubts of people showing up. But in a blink of an eye, the square was filled with Libyans, and Mohammed couldn’t believe his eyes, to the extent that he thought he was dreaming.
Helping others overcome their fears by educating them
Mohammed explained to us how Libyans are shy. They are conserved and try to always hang on to their culture. They got introduced to cameras in 2001, so they were hesitant to use it in front of people. They’re scared of new things that might hurt or ruin their culture.
Even though there are people who like to change and try new stuff, as well as a lot of photographers and creatives, but the majority prefers not to think in ways that contradict with societal norms.
Thus the way to help people get more comfortable in being able to show that environment around them is through the media and the press, says Mohammed. By making awareness campaigns about photography, just like he did in the festival, people will have open eyes to how photography is a beautiful art and is nothing to be ashamed of.
He recalled that during the festival, at first people weren’t comfortable with the idea of being photographed; but with time they got excited about it, and started asking Mohammed to take more pictures of them.
The festival was a great idea to celebrate the creatives in Libya and introduce them and their art to the community.
In that way, the public will learn more about that art and realize how fun, interactive, and pleasurable it is. Thus photography and community will be integrated together, to form beautiful, authentic content.
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