Salih Basheer

Salih Basheer (Arabic: صالح بشير‎, born January 1, 1995)[1] is a Sudanese photographer.

Salih Basheer
صالح بشير
Born (1995-01-01) January 1, 1995
Omdurman, Sudan
NationalitySudanese
Known forPhotography
MovementAfrican photography
Websitewww.salihbasheer.com

Since 2018, he has been awarded several grants and prizes for photography, and his photo stories have been exhibited in Ethiopia, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and the United Arab Emirates. His 2023 publication 22 Days in Between is the first photo-book ever by a Sudanese photographer.

Early life and education

Basheer was born in Omdurman, Sudan.[1]

After finishing secondary school in Sudan, he moved to Cairo in 2013 and received his Bachelor's degree in Geography from Cairo University in 2017. During his studies in Egypt, he started as a self-taught photographer.[2]

Life and work

After his graduation, Basheer began to work on his first long-term project titled Sweet Taste Of Sugarcane.[2] This documentary Photo Story about the harsh conditions of students in a khalwa, a Sudanese religious school, was shown at the international Addis Foto Fest in 2018.

His next project, called The Home Seekers, was supported by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) in 2019. In this, Basheer recorded the lives of other Sudanese refugees in Cairo, who are living in exile and thus are "look[ing] inward in search for a 'home', looking for a better life and education".[3] This visual story was exhibited in October 2021 at the Diffusion Festival in Cardiff, Wales[4] and the same year in France as part of the group exhibition "Mon ami n'est pas d'ici" at the Institut du Monde Arabe's exhibition space in Tourcoing,[5] as well as at the festival "Les Rencontres à l'échelle" in Marseille.[6] In 2020, Basheer started a diploma course in photojournalism at the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX) in Aarhus and was awarded a scholarship by The VII Foundation.[7][8] In addition, he obtained the Shahidul Alam Grant for the development of independent photojournalism by the Danish School of Media and Journalism.[9]

Exhibition of photographs at the Institut du Monde Arabe-Tourcoing

In 2021, Basheer received the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund student grant for his narrative project 22 Days in Between, remembering the loss of his parents and the challenges of settling into a new home with his grandmother. According to the fund,

"This project is Salih's visual process of learning more about his parents and himself and serves as a method of healing from the trauma of losing his parents. Salih says that having a camera in his hand gave him the courage and comfort level to ask questions about his parents and their deaths."[10]

For the same visual story, Basheer was awarded the Everyday Projects Grant.[11] In 2022, he received another grant from AFAC through their visual arts program for 22 Days in Between.[12] His photographs were selected for the 2022 African Photography Encounters in Bamako, Mali.[13]

In June 2022, the British Journal of Photography presented Basheer as one of 15 upcoming photographers to watch.[14]

In January 2023, Basheer published 22 Days in Between, the first ever photo-book by a Sudanese photographer, that evokes his early childhood and memories of his parents, who died within the period of 22 days, when Basheer was only 3 years old. An article in the British Journal of Photography described this photo-book as an "introspective narrative [...] explored through various formats: personal writing, self-portraits, archive images, and drawings that Basheer drew recently but from the perspective of a child – to uphold the idea that he is still a kid longing to bond with his parents."[15] In his review in The Washington Post, Kenneth Dickerman said:[16]

This is a remarkable book that plumbs the depths of memory and the building blocks of identity. It is a gem. It'll suck you in and is a profound excavation of what it means to be human, pitfalls, elation, misery and sadness combined.

Publications
  • 22 Days in Between: Photographs from Sudan, Copenhagen: Disko Bay, 2023. ISBN 9788797352632.[17]

Grants and awards

Group and solo exhibitions

See also

References
  1. "A B O U T – Salih Basheer". Salihbasheer. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  2. Addis Foto Fest (2018). "Salih Basheer". Addis Foto Fest. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  3. Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (2019). "Salih Basheer – The Home Seekers". www.arabculturefund.org. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  4. Diffusion festival. "The Home Seekers – Salih Basheer". diffusionfestival.org. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  5. "Archives 2021 I Mon ami n'est pas d'ici | IMA-Tourcoing". IMA-Tourcoing | Institut du monde arabe-Tourcoing (in French). 18 November 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  6. "Mon ami n'est pas d'ici – صديقي ليس من هنا". Les Rencontres à l'Échelle (in French). Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  7. "International students selected for spring 2021 – DMJX photojournalism". Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  8. The VII Foundation. "Seeking to challenge complex social, economic, environmental and human rights issues through documentary non-fiction storytelling and education". Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  9. "International students selected for fall 2020 term – DMJX photojournalism". Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  10. "2021 W. Eugene Smith Student Grant Recipient". W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  11. The Everyday Projects (2021). "2021 Grant – Salih Basheer". The Everyday Projects. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  12. "Introducing AFAC's 2022 Visual Arts Grantees". www.arabculturefund.org. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  13. African Biennial of Photography (2012). "African biennial of photography – Bamako encounters". Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  14. Eleode, Emi. "Salih Basheer's dreamlike images explore home, belonging and loss – 1854 Photography". www.1854.photography. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  15. Durie, Alexander. "Salih Basheer gathers memories from before his parents' death". www.1854.photography. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  16. "Perspective | This book is a profound meditation on memory and identity". Washington Post. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  17. "Salih Basheer – 22 Days in Between". Disko Bay.
  18. "Salih Basheer win The Everyday Projects Grant – DMJX photojournalism". Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  19. "Announcing the 2019 Arab Documentary Photography Program Grantees". Magnum Foundation. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  20. "Winner Announcement". Tasweer. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  21. "Announcing the 2022 Counter Histories Grantees". Magnum Foundation. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  22. "CAP Prize – International Prize for Contemporary African Photography". CAP Prize. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  23. "22 Days in Between – The Photo Textbook Award Winner". Arles Photography Festival. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  24. "Vantage Point Sharjah 2019". Sharjah Art Foundation. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  25. "Invisible Borders in Bamako: 12th Bamako Photography Biennale, 2019 (ENG/FR)", Youtube, retrieved 25 December 2021
  26. "World Press Photo: Seen through the lens of..." Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  27. "Everyday Africa". World Press Photo (in German). Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  28. "Through the lens of – Photographers from the African Photojournalism Database". World Press Photo. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  29. "See You at Photofairs NY!". Magnum Foundation. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.