"you belong, the space is yours to occupy"
Khadija is a Kenyan-born documentary and travel photographer with an interest in climate change, faith communities and women's issues. After spending her formative years living in Texas, Khadija moved back to Kenya in 2014 and got a job at Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya.
In the year she served in Dadaab, she witnessed dozens of photojournalists come through the camps and felt that the work they published was very one-sided and portrayed only one facet of the refugee experience. Photographing the lives of refugees with dignity, telling the stories they wanted to tell about their own experiences, allowed Khadija to understand that there was space for a Somali woman in this field.
Join us for an in-depth conversation about her photography journey (2:01), how her values and experience shape her approach to photography (3:04), becoming a freelancer (8:23), therapy (12:25), burn-out and her decision to quit (16:49), fake-allies and the industry (21:30), importance of creating institutions and mentoring photographers (26:15), shooting seven-time world marathon majors runner Mary Keitany for ESPN (31:40), why we use the word collaborator instead of subject (36:30), Eliud Kipchoge breaking the 2-hour marathon barrier and his GQ shoot (37:50), advice to budding photographers (45:10), dealing with imposter’s syndrome and self doubt (50:36)
Website: www. kmfarah.com
Twitter: @kmfarah
Instagram: @farahkhad
Eliud Kipchoge's GQ Shoot: https://www.gq.com/story/inside-eliud-kipchoge-kenya-training-compound