Young Bahraini photographer, Basma Alhashimi, gets the big picture… quite literally. Her stunning landscape and cityscape photography has earned her recognition and captured the attention of viewers around the world. This is her story.
Photography has a way of invoking its viewers’ deepest of emotions. A meticulously composed photograph can spark waves of joy and nostalgia while also inspiring action from those looking at it – perhaps even a visit back home. These are the all too familiar feelings experienced by those gazing at the mesmerising imagery captured by the young, avid photography enthusiast, Basma Alhashimi.
The 25-year-old Bahraini is bright and ambitious, and holds a BSc in Accounting and MSc in Finance and Investment from the University of Essex. “I believe that a person should have at least three hobbies; one to make you money, one to keep you creative and one to keep you fit,” says Basma, who is an accountant at the Electricity and Water Authority.
Her Journey
Basma, who is largely self-taught, developed an interest in photography in 2010. Two years later she acquired her first DSLR, transforming her interest into a hobby and that hobby into a passion. “Not many people know this about me, but I am lucky to have learned the basics of photography at a workshop in the summer of 2013 from a great woman, Badria AlBalushi – the sister of renowned professional Bahraini photographer, Jaan AlBalushi,” she says. “I am eternally grateful to her, because she embedded the basics in my head and gave me the strong foundation which kick-started my photography journey.”
As the years passed, Basma dabbled in various niches of photography including street, macro, sport and product photography. However, in the summer of 2016, she was drawn towards landscape and architecture photography in a workshop by professional Kuwaiti photographer Mohammed Alsultan.
“He made me find my passion for landscapes and cityscapes and gave me a good base of information to get me started. Since then, I have done my own advanced research, trial-and-error and experimenting,” she explains. “I’ve made hundreds of attempts with various techniques and failed many times along the way but I think, from a personal standpoint, that this is the best way to learn and develop. There are no shortcuts to success, just a load of hard work, patience and consistency.”
More recently, the pandemic presented her with an opportunity to perfect her craft. “Since group photography activities could no longer be organised, it kick-started a phase of personal growth and development for me that involved a lot of location scouting, planning and experimenting on my own,” she says of a time that sparked her passion for time-lapse photography.
“Consequently, I currently like to describe myself as a cyclist by dawn, an accountant by day and a photographer by dusk,” she says.
Staying Inspired
While Basma doesn’t shy away from exploring, one of her go-to locations is the picturesque Al Ghous Park in Muharraq which seasmlessly combines her love for landscapes and cityscapes. “You can never go wrong with heading over there, where the opportunities to get creative are endless as you can witness an iconic skyline and capture several landmarks in a single image,” she beams.
Besides Mr. Alsultan, she is also inspired by Dany Eid and Elia Locardi, professional photographers who she was fortunate to meet during their talks in Bahrain. “Such talks involve diving into the very technical aspects of landscape and cityscape photography. I am introduced to an ocean of advanced information which makes me realise how little I know about this specific type of photography, and how much room there is for improvement,” she explains.
Waves of Nostalgia
Basma’s photography has been shared far and wide through the social media platform, Instagram, garnering her a growing audience and commendable recognition in the photography realm. “I think it would be difficult for me to describe my photographs, but if I had to talk about my aim when I’m out shooting, it would be to portray the beauty of Bahrain, from my perspective. This is why I always try to include landmarks in my photos,” she says.
“I’ve noticed that my work is mostly shared by people who are based in Bahrain or by ex-residents of Bahrain, including some of my friends who now live or study abroad, and constantly tell me that my photos make them miss Bahrain and make them long to visit again,” she adds.
Her beautiful imagery has also earned the reaction of complete strangers across the world, some even wishing to visit the Kingdom. “They’ve told me that they use my page as a reference and guide to beautiful places in Bahrain. Some have even said it makes them want to visit our beloved country, urging me to cover more areas,” she says.
Good Things Take Time
“With time-lapses, you really have to think carefully about framing the scene as once you start shooting you can’t move your camera at all,” she says, adding that she began exploring time-lapse photography in 2018.
Shooting time-lapses is a very time-consuming process and requires a lot of patience from start to finish. “After shooting a time-lapse, you end up with a series of images that need to processed into a video using video editing software. Early on I was shooting them but was really lazy about processing them. The processing phase has its own challenges such as flickering between frames sometimes due to very slight changes in exposure, which would need to be corrected,” she explains.
“With time though, I have learned to enjoy every part of the process,” she adds.
Goals and Achievements
Aside from landscape and architecture photography, Basma enjoys her fair share of sports photography which she dabbled in while in university. “My photos have been featured a few times on Basketball England’s website and on one occasion, on the BBC too. My recent work has been awarded the ‘New Years’ Eve 2020 Best Photo’ by the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA),” she says, adding that in December 2021 she was invited by the BTEA to be a part of a panel of four judges for a National Day photography exhibition.
The ambitious photographer has begun working on a short-term project about the Kingdom of Bahrain which she believes will take place over three or four years. “Another project I plan on taking on is something I’ve done while at university – taking portraits of people. I do, however, know that implementing the same in Bahrain will undoubtedly be a much more challenging and time-consuming task since a country is much bigger than a university campus university,” she says of the projects which will portray different aspects of Bahrain.
“In the long-term, however, with the ever-evolving field of photography, my plan remains to continue to follow my passion,” she concludes.
