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Veteran photographer and filmmaker Mahmood Al-Yousif is kicking off October’s breast cancer awareness month by showcasing a collection of moving images from his travels around the world and helping to raise funds for the cause.
His Inspired Moments exhibition is being staged at Harbour Gate’s south ground floor entrance within the Bahrain Financial Harbour and 20 per cent of the proceeds made from sales of the limited edition images will be donated to Think Pink Bahrain Breast Cancer Society.
Mahmood, the founder of Arabia Video, said: “I have been supporting this charity for more than 10 years and this annual initiative is extremely important to me.
“It is important to me, not because I have daughters, sisters, and a mother as well as many female friends and colleagues – all of whom I value very much – but because I do believe that women and their roles are critical to any family and society.
“I also know that losing someone to breast cancer is a tragedy and one of the key weapons against it is awareness. I hope that my humble contribution will help in that noble endeavour and if it prevents a single death, then I would have played my part in keeping at least one family together and helped them thrive.”
The exhibition was inaugurated by Financial Centre Development Company’s CEO Angus Campbell and features 33 prints. “Inspired Moments is a collection of moments that I cherish of my travels covering everything from Vancouver Island to Hong Kong and then from Moscow all the way down to Cape Town,” said Mahmood. “I have visited tons of countries over my lifetime and I always endeavour to discover the things that make each place tick.”
The uniquely framed limited edition photographic signed pieces are being snapped up for between BD45 to BD200, with many buyers and collectors planning to use them as centre pieces on living room and office walls.
Mahmood’s focused on a mixture of subjects from lavender fields, a racing circuit pit lane and even a panoramic view of South Africa’s Cape Town.
“I don’t really care about the camera nor am I beholden to any particular brand,” he added. “The only thing I’m beholden to are my eyes.”
His passion for photography stems from his childhood when his late father, Nasser, who taught him all about photography, bought him his first Zenit camera.
Nasser, a former president and founder of the Contemporary Art Society Bahrain, also built him his own dark room to develop his pictures. During his teenage years, Mahmood founded the first photography club at the Shaikh Abdulaziz Mohammed Boys’ Secondary School in Adliya.
He hopes his latest exhibition, which runs until October 25, will inspire others to ‘cherish every moment’.
“Life is too short and it’s easy to get pulled away from the beauty that is surrounding us,” he said. “Appreciate ‘the moment’ because that will sustain you for a long time. Every picture that you see at my exhibition, I can go back to that moment and remember the sights, the sound and the smell of that particular location.”
Mahmood hopes visitors will also be encouraged to become aware of the causes of cancer and look for signs of the disease which can often be successfully treated if spotted early enough.
“You owe it to yourself, your family and your community to just get checked,” he said. “The support that the Think Pink organisation and, of course, the Government of Bahrain, is providing is wonderful. A simple regular half-an-hour check for abnormalities could save a lot of anguish.”
Women are being urged by Think Pink founder and chairman Jules Sprakel to download a free mobile application called iCheck (Think Pink Bahrain). “It is a great start to being aware of your body as it has all you need to know about breast self-examination – with a month reminder and tutorial,” Jules explained.
The mobile application received a soft launch on National Day 2017 and will now be further promoted by the Ministry of Health.
“It is available for both Andriod and iOS users and is the first in the GCC, in both Arabic and English. We would ask people to encourage colleagues, students, family members and friends to join the icheck campaign remembering that breast cancer is not just specific for October.
“This month, we are getting back to basics in terms of being at the patient level and patient centred with a view to align with international best practice to work on shared decision aides. It’s our 14th year of campaigning and each year we truly appreciate the support of the community in driving Think Pink: Bahrain Breast Cancer Society’s mission and vision forward.”
Last year, more than BD109,000 was raised and used on community projects under the Awareness, Education and Research Fund - specifically in relation to breast cancer, Jules added.
