About

I’m Mostafa, a psychiatrist and documentary photographer living in Jeddah.

All day I listen to people: to what they say, and to what their faces and hands say when the words stop. When I walk the streets, I keep listening. Some places have a sound to them, faint at first and louder as I get closer: a corridor, a small shop, a corner where something is about to happen. A gesture, a glance, a laugh, a private sadness. Small moments, gone in a second, that hold something much larger.

I photograph them because they remind me what we share across languages, cultures and faiths, and because they pass so quickly, the way this life does. This site is an invitation to slow down and notice.

Faith

I am a Muslim, and my faith shapes how I look. This life is brief, we are passing through it, and even the smallest moment can carry a sign.

Psychiatry and photography

The two practices share a way of attending to people, not their subjects. I never photograph patients or clinical settings.

Influences

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Vivian Maier and Fan Ho, among many others.