Abdullah Interviews Dana Al-Ghanim
“Wow, these pics are great, who took’em ?” I kept asking the first time I laid eyes on the wonderfully talented & “B”eautiful Miss Dana Al-Ghanim’s pictures. A few days later I received an email from a friend telling me about her & the exhibition she held “wild eyes”. I smiled and kept my mouth zipped. Kuwait is so tiny and people are extremely meshed and mashed all together.
Aside from her talent as a photographer, courage and photogenic-fit-for-a-fashion-magazine-cover-full-10-page-spread, was her honesty. You’ll read her answers and feel you’v known her years ago. She opens up about her childhood, current state of mind and future vision, all of that and she’s still 17 years young.
Why am I excited about this ? Well, if you are that young, a woman, in a male dominated society, holding your own exhibition, bold enough to say YES thats my creation in a calm but an in your face attitude, what do you want me to expect of her and young women like her when they reach 27? These young people are success formulas, only the wise will comprehend.
This is where a salute comes to the parents, I call them the hit makers, they brought in to that young girl’s soul a seed called “I BELIVE IN YOU” “I trust you” “Yes, you are talented”, you can only imagine what the outcome will look like. Better yet, stop imagining and look at this live example, look at Dana.
Some say tell me what cologne you wear and i’ll predict your personality. With Dana, a glimpse of her photos gives you a full understanding of what she is. Full of life, hope and definitely a fearless spirit.
Introduce yourself Dana.
My name is Dana AlGhanim and I am a seventeen year old high school student. I love to paint, take pictures, meet people and go horse riding.
Childhood flashes, first thoughts that come to mind ?
I remember when I was about 5 or 6 and we’d dress up for Eid, I’d see my dads uncle, and he used to always call me Latifa. I would get so mad and frustrated telling him that my name was Dana not Latifa, and he would just laugh about it. This cycle went on for years until my freshmen year of high school. I asked him why he always called me Latifa, and he said that I reminded him of my great grandmother, Latifa. I was so curious to know why, and he told me that she was a free spirit, always stood up for what believed was right. I hope I still remind him of her.
What inspired you to tap into who you are now ?
Moments. Moments inspired me to start photography. I noticed I saw things others didn’t, and I wanted to share that. I find the idea of capturing a moment and freezing it forever to be so magical. It fascinates me. A camera would grasp an instant and allow it to be relived over, and over again. In the summer of 2008, I bought my first camera.
What differs you from the rest of the competition out there?
I honestly cannot think of something that differs me from others except for one thing really… usually when I take a photograph that pleases me, I would have taken that photograph during “the rush of the moment”. I don’t like to stage my photographs, or set the scene for a certain moment or feel to occur, and even if I do, those photographs wouldn’t really appeal to me.
Can you please tell us about your latest projects ? Since you made lots of projects, focus on the big ones.
This year, I started a business with a friend of mine, Farah AlReshaid, who is also a photographer. A lot of emotion and motion could be found within my photographs whereas Farah’s photographs would have a much more tranquil, vintage feel to them. Wild Eyes is about merging both of our photographic techniques into one big piece of art. We would showcase our photographs in exhibitions and people interested would be able to buy some on the spot, preorder them or contact us on wild.eyes.snapshots@gmail.com
What were the difficulties you faced and how did you overcome them ?
One of the greatest difficulties I am facing is balancing between my love for photography and school. I find it very hard to equalize between them as I wouldn’t mind ditching school and going on a photo-shooting adventure any day. To be honest, I still didn’t really overcome that, but I just have to remember that in order to reach my goal, I have to make some sacrifices, and waking up in the morning is my sacrifice, haha
Your’e support system, family and friends ?
I am very lucky to have such friends and family as they both support me all the way. I honestly believe that support is one of the most important components to success because when you start to lose hope in yourself and you find the people you love believing in you, you can’t help but start believing in yourself too.
Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
5 years from now I want to be studying special needs education and specializing in marine biology. I also want to be someone others would look up to and help people as much as I possibly can.
Throw something for p0ach readers.
Be true, always. No matter what they say, or do. Be true to you, be real. It is okay to fall sometimes, and you might feel like you’re about to give up… but please, don’t ever give up, if you must, let go, but don’t give up. Remember that the downs make the ups.
Whoever you are, you are great.
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allah ewafgich inshala your pics are amazing, wish you the best of luck in the future
Yesss she is talented mashallah.. it’s greaat to have someone as young and talented!!
keep up the great work Dana!
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her soul and ideals are a true inspiration, and for that i am lucky to know her. with lots of love and luck xx
She surely is a free spirit. Good luck and believe me you will make a difference!!
hmmm…
Dana…
One of the very few girls that have ever motivated me or inspired me to actually be different. Dana is one of those people who make you believe ina idinya lail7een ebkhair !! o enaa she will indeed change society.
Dana has recently taken pictures of me and my classmates for student council elections. Truth be told i was very worried that my picture wouldn’t please me since im not photogenic at all. Dana proved me wrong. Wallah with her, there wasn’t such thing as “not photogenic”. She knew exactly when and how to take a picture. Every single picture of us expressed our feelings quite obviously. 7asait ina the picture she took wasn’t just a picture, it was an actual representation of what we stood for. MashAllah 3alayha the girl is VERY talented i tell you.
Dana, you are one of the few girls who has actually stood up and did something. For that, i wish you all the best and may god bless you wherever you are.. Giltha once and i’ll say it again, i’m sure one day i’ll see something big out of you.
For all of you out there, taraa KELMEN sa2al 3an our pictures ina who took them after they where presented in front of the whole student body. If your looking for someone talented… well then today is your lucky day!
Allah ewafgich oo enshAlla we see more of your work all around Q8!!!
wow! Really like your photos Dana,
!!
thanks Abdullah, and keep it up with showing the world the kuwaiti talented youth
and my question as a photographer ! dose Dana have a Flicker or a website ?! that people can see he work?!
thanks
Wow! Dana is an extraordinary individual with an extraordinary talent! I wish her all the best!
Great Interview! I’m so proud to call Dana my cousin. She’s a beautiful person both inside and out, extremely mature for her age and so ambitious. I know Dana will be going to bigger and better places in the future, and we all can’t wait to see it happen.
words as talented, ambitious, free spirit, honest, optimistic cant even come close to describe who Dana really is. Whenever anyone’s down you’ll see her down too trying to draw a smile on any sad face. Well dana, seeing u draws a smile on anybody’s face.
P0ach its a great interview!
“Whoever you are, you are great.” <— very sweet of u
betaufeej, gr8 work!
What a talented beauty. Her photographs are amazing. I wish her much success and happiness.
Dana.. the quality of your pictures never fails to amaze me.. and your answers for the interview show exactly how talented and original you are..
Hope you get to show the whole worled how talented you are
and this is an amazing interview ;D
I know Dana and I have met her through the Proteges program! She is fabulous and nice inside out! I am glad I know someone her age with her talent… alla ya7fethha wekhaleeha wewafig-ha inshalla ;-D
Dana, one of the few girls i remember before graduating from highschool a few years back. So proud of her mashaallaah!! 3asa allah iwafgich, wish you all the best. Beautiful…just beautiful!! Im speechless.
great shots!!! alla ywafgich enshala!
thanks for the interview Abdullah
Proud of you all bnat w shbab liq8
Kuwait is so proud of you
Keep going =D
I am really impressed, she is truly a gorgeous & talented young Lady…I love the story about her grandmother…sometimes we are closer to our grandparents than we are thinking….
Those pics are amazing, I was going to skim thru this but ended up staring in awe..I honestly don’t know what it is..they’re so much different and unique!
20 out of 10
mashalah all the best inshala!
mashallah.
allah ywafigha inshallah
hey..
what an awesome photographs !
you’re really talented girl
i’m trying to get into this experience .. but i guess it’s gonna take me so long to reach to what you’ve accomplished or just a part of it
but i have a question
don’t you have a flickr account ?!
Good luck
this girl is beyond amazing mashala! keep it up dana
Dana my beautiful cousin. I can’t wait to see what else life has in store for you! I’m so proud of you