It's HERE.

After a long journey of hard work and dedication, I am thrilled to say that this journey has reached an end. However, it's only the end of a start! Making this small book has given me a motive to get back to photography, it made me realize how much I missed it and it gave me a new appreciation for photography and how it really preserves our lives and our journey and holds them still so we can always go back look at them and remember those old times.

Sushi Bahrain is Finally printed and having it now in my hands makes me proud and it makes me feel like I actually did something useful and special this summer. As I mentioned before this book is only a first initiative towards a bigger project that I hope I will work on once I'm back home, as the social fraction that was caused by the political unrest in Bahrain can't be fixed in one or two days, it will take time and absolute commitment to resolve and for things to go back to how they were and lets even hope for the better!

My aim of making this book was to portray what "Bahraini-ness" OR being a Bahraini means, and through the photos I included in this book, anyone who will look at it won't be able to tell the difference between Shiite and Sunni. People will only see the amazing ties and connections those people have to each others, to their heritage, religion and nature regardless of their color, religion and class.

Just Remember,

We are all Bahraini

- No Sunni, No Shiite -

We are Su-Shi

It's been a month

Yeah, it has been a month since I last posted updates about my project!

Honestly, its has been an eventful month! - The arrival of the holy month of Ramadhan, doing my internship and working on completing Su-Shi Bahrain, I have come so far with this project. I've been taking photographs, coordinating with a graphic designer, and now finally negotiating printing prices with a few companies! Initially I'm only looking to print a few copies, but I can see this book becoming a bigger project and I hope that hundreds and maybe thousands of copies would be printed. Anyway, I'm writing today to tell you what have been up to... This a little journal/diary that I've been keeping... Here you go:

25^th July: visited Bahrain national museum and Capital mall for Bahraini crafts and products.

26^th July: first day to meet the graphic designer and share my ideas and vision with him.

27^th July: took the day to visit several centers that belong to the ministry of human rights and social development which provide services for children, elderly and disabled people.

30^th July: attended an ending ceremony for the activities that the ministry of human rights and social development were providing for the children during the summer.

1^st August: Another meeting with the graphic designer to see what he did for the cover page. And gathered some photographs that I’ve taken so far so he starts designing the inside pages.

8^th August: traditional fashion show event.

9^th August: inside pages design was ready.

10^th August: photo shoot in Durrat Al-Bahrain.

13^th August: Went to Souq Al-manama or Manama market, which is traditional.

14^th August: Gergaoon family celebration.

18^th August: another meeting to edit the inside pages and add more photos.

20^th August: received another draft for the inside pages which look pretty GOOD!!

Here's a little sneak peak!

Baby Steps

I am now taking baby steps towards actually starting this project. Doing my internship at The Ministry of Human Rights & Social Development, like I said before, is giving me many opportunities to attend events that allow me to complete my vision of this project by capturing items/things I listed in the previous blog post. I will upload and share some of the photos I captured last week, and keep you posted!

Innas A.

Seeing Bahrain Through My Lens

To start off, I have to say that I'm not going to work on this project and act that I'm making this graphic/photographic book because I'm a professional photographer and because photography is the passion of my life. NO! I'm working on this project because I do have a passion for photography and for what it gives us, it allows us to capture those precious moments and keep them still for the rest of our lives, photography for me a world of memories, it generates nostalgia - "its delicate, but potent" - Mad Men. Just like a time machine, I aim to document those moments in our lives that we can look back into as a community and realize how special they are.

The Bahraini community is diverse, not only by the ethnicities and faiths of people, but by their culture and traditions. We hold onto our history and at the same time we follow the modernity of the surrounding globalized world. Through all this, our community stood strong together hand in hand, but unfortunately sometimes, if one circle breaks in a chain, it all gets damaged… But its alright, you can always get the chain fixed and repaired!! - What doesn't kill you, Only makes you stronger; Things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right.

I spent the whole of last week, just thinking of what I want to capture through my lens, and I came up with a LONG list of ideas - I might not take photos of all of them but this list just gives me an idea/theme of how I want my project to go.

The following is a brief version of my list:

- Gerga'onn preparation (traditional Celebration)

- Friday breakfast & Saturday lunch (Main family gatherings)

- Gahwa (Traditional Coffee)

- Jasmis (National Bahraini fast-food chain)

- Qura'n (The holy book)

- children playing

- Mosque

- Beach

- Traditional music perfomances

- Bab Al-Bahrain (Bahraini marketplace)

- Bahrain museum

- Old/ Traditional houses

- Traditional clothing

- Henna

- Traditional foods

- Tree of life

- Currency

Family Bank's Offer

During a work meeting yesterday (Tuesday July 12, 2011) , I met Dr. Atef Elshabrawy the CEO of Family Bank, which is established in Bahrain as the first Islamic micro-finance bank in the Middle East. Their main objective, as they state in their website, is to contribute to poverty reduction and socio-economic empowerment of the communities.

Anyway, I think it was an great opportunity for me to meet him, as I spoke to him about my SU-SHI project and he offered to help! He told me about one of the programs they do to follow up with their clients and measure their progress. He offered me to join his team and help them in taking photographs of the clients, their products, workplaces or shops. I will use the photos i will be taking, and include the story and a description of the clients' work and projects. This relates to my main project and concept as it shows the unity not only among the people themselves, but among people, the government and private institutions.

Social Cohesion

One of the things I'm doing this summer is an internship at The Ministry of Human Rights & Social Development. I am working at their Public and International Relations department, which is really exciting!

The director of the department allocated me to be to help in supervising and managing "Social Cohesion", the campaign we will be running to raise awareness about the services the ministry provides for the people and during this specific time after the unfortunate political incidents. This campaign becomes even more critical as it promotes for the unity of people and communities and brings them together. It will be done through the posters we

will produce and some events that we will be host and sponsor at different public places during the month of Ramadhan and the celebrations of Eid.

Why Social Cohesion?

I found a really good video, which sums up the purpose behind this campaign and explains its significance to any community, and in this case, Bahrain.

Innas A.

Introduction To "SU-SHI"

Sushi is the cookery art of combining different ingredients and flavors that compliment each other. Most Sushi recipes are based on the combination of two main ingredients the meat (usually fish) and the rice, the two of them together create the base for delicious Sushi.

BUT WAIT! Enough with the food talk...

This blog isn't dedicated to the worldwide popular Japanese delicacy - Sushi, how make it, it's different kinds and recipes, etc. The blog isn't even related to Japan!

SU-SHI Bahrain, is an initiative that I started to produce a graphic communications response to the recent political incidents in my home country, Bahrain. This project is aimed to dig deep within the community, look for things that represent us 'Bahrainis' as united citizens and document them through the lens of my camera. I will collect the photographs, put them together and print them in the form of a book (and then hopefully find a publisher!).

You may wonder about my choice of the project's title "Su-Shi Bahrain"? Well, it's a combination between the two words: Sunni & Shiite - the two main sectors of the Bahraini citizens (the meat and the rice!). As the recent political unrest in Bahrain caused disturbance and division between those two sectors, this project aims to remind them of what it really means to be a Bahraini and that no matter what faith, religion or beliefs we follow, at the end of the day we are all Bahrainis. We are SU-SHIs.

This is a brief explanation/introduction to my project that I aim to finish by the end of this summer - September. During the time I will be working on it I will keep you updated on my progress, what I'm doing, any changes that will occur, and any challenges and difficulties that I will face. Follow me, and feel free to give me any feedback or suggestions! :)

For now I will leave you with one of my favorite songs, which was produced during the unfortunate political incidents in Bahrain & aimed to unite people.

Enjoy :) ...

Innas A.