I WRITE, I SHOOT,
I RUN THE CAMERA.
I am Mohamed. I report on politics and power, and I shoot the places I go, on stills and on video.
I have a bachelor's in film from Seattle Film Institute, with a concentration in cinematography.
Most of the writing runs in Civil Interest, my publication. The pictures come from eight countries so far, with documentary video from Iraqi Kurdistan below.
Available for freelance work, commissions and assignments.
SEE THE PICTURES → EMAIL ME →
WRITING
Reporting and analysis on politics, conflict and money. Longform, breaking news, and research.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Stills on film and digital. Documentary, travel and street, mostly on available light.
VIDEO AND CAMERA
Cinematography and videography. Shooting, and cutting what I shoot. Trained in film, not self taught.
THE WORLD ARCHIVE
Eight countries. 227 photographs.
Film and digital. Click any country to see the whole set.
IRAQI KURDISTAN, 2019
Shot on a Z Cam in 4K, over eight days in November 2019.
A short reel, a slow motion piece from Lalish, the interviews, and scenes from around. Cut down to fit the web.
The interviews have sound and it is worth turning up. The slow motion and the street scenes are silent.
Forty seconds cut from a week of shooting. Duhok, Erbil and Lalish.
Music: "Round Drums" by Kevin MacLeod, used under CC BY.Lalish, in slow motion
The stone courtyards and spires of Lalish, the holiest site of the Yazidi faith, shot at high frame rate. No sound.
THE INTERVIEWS
A teashop whose walls are covered with photographs of Peshmerga killed fighting ISIS, alongside their uniforms and weapons.
Interviewed at her desk, under the Kurdistan flag.
A guide at Lalish, the holiest site of the Yazidi faith, seated barefoot on the flagstones as visitors must be.
Inside Babylon FM, an English language radio station in Erbil, mid broadcast.
ONE SCENE
A city bus in Erbil converted into a cafe, lit in amber and neon.
RAW CAMERA REELS
Shot between 31 October and 8 November 2019, in Duhok, Lalish and around. 157 clips in the archive. Email me about the rest.
WHAT I WRITE
Politics, conflict, and the money underneath both.
The UAE's covert role in Sudan's civil war
A covert airlift of weapons to the RSF, gold laundering through Dubai, and the finance that paid for it.
Why did tens of thousands of Moroccans rush Spain's border?
Morocco used migration as leverage against Spain. Its own citizens were desperate enough to go.
Civil InterestIsrael wants to lead the Red Sea
The plan puts Somaliland at the centre of an Israeli-led security order.
Civil InterestChad helped fuel Sudan's war. The consequences are arriving.
The UAE is opening new routes into Sudan. Chad is left with the attacks.
Civil InterestOne nuclear rule for Iran, another for Saudi Arabia
Trump bombed Iran over nuclear capability he is now willing to tolerate in Riyadh.
Civil InterestHow long can Jordan pretend it is neutral?
Jordan says it is neutral in the US-Iran war. The American forces on its territory say otherwise.
Civil InterestSaudi Arabia now faces a blockade of its own making
After ten years of restricting Yemen's ports, Riyadh's own Red Sea oil route is exposed.
Civil InterestI took a tour of the United Nations HQ
The one place that documents the world's crimes and cannot stop them.
CIVIL INTEREST
My publication. Politics, players, and the systems that shape power.
Free to read. New pieces on the record.
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Open to commissions, assignments and freelance work. Writing, stills, or camera.
MOHAMEDXTWO@OUTLOOK.COM →