Saudi photographer Osamah Maher takes part in Purificacion Garcia’s regional campaign

Continuing to shed light on regional creative talents, Purificacion Garcia launches the fourth chapter of its regional ‘Thinker Program’, featuring a clutch of Saudi Arabian talent including Alaa Balkhy, Malak Masallati and photographer Osamah Maher.

The program is designed to support and uplift society at the intersection of art, fashion and the concept of community to promote positivity. 

Artists Balkhy and Masallati were asked to create a piece of art inspired by Purificacion Garcia’s icons, within a square cube. The pieces were then captured by the photographer, Maher.

Esquire speaks to Khobar-based photographer, Osamah Maher (also known as SimSim) about his collaboration with on the project.

ESQ: What made you want to get involved in the PG Thinker Program?
Creating meaningful art is something I strive for ever since I started doing conceptual photography. And knowing that this program had to do with optimism made me more interested in it as I have had a story with mental health in the past.

ESQ: Light and colour play an important part in your aesthetic. Why is that?
Light affects the way we see everything in life, and therefore it has a primary role in any photographer’s work, as it shapes any subject.  

ESQ: For this campaign, Purifcacion Garcia wanted to highlight the theme of Optimism. How did you achieve that? 
I wanted to show that optimism sometimes just means seeing a given situation in a different way and from a changed perspective. So, I used the optical concept about white light being actually a combination of red, green, and blue light, to try and show the shadows in color. Hence, showing what our eyes usually see, which is black or grey shadows, in a more colorful optimistic way.

ESQ: What are you optimistic about?
I am most optimistic about the future of our country Saudi Arabia. With the new vision and the increasing appreciation and support of art, culture, fashion, and everything creative, we can finally have a better chance at doing something we love and make a living out of it. And you can already see talented people flourishing in the country and making amazing things.

“I am most optimistic about the future of our country Saudi Arabia…you can already see talented people flourishing in the country and making amazing things.”

ESQ: What made you want to be a photographer? 
I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of being able to freeze a moment in time and keep it forever. But my actual journey in photography started when I was struggling with depression in the US. And taking some photos of beautiful nature and some street candid moments of people by my phone camera was the only thing that would make me accept the idea of getting up from my couch and go out of my apartment.

Then, after I came back home to Saudi, I bought my first camera and learned how to use it then my interest developed into creating conceptual photos that has a meaning.

ESQ: You often use the moniker, SimSim. Where does that name come from?
SimSim is actually the nickname my parents and close family have called me since I was a kid. I chose to make it as my artistic name to make it something unique that people can recognize me by and it is honestly interesting to see how something specific to the people very close to you becomes something more public.