Photographer Hayat Osamah has made it a mission to use her artistic talents to create a thought-provoking perspective on her homeland, Saudi Arabia. The Riyadh-based snapper is committed to showing a more diverse Saudi by capturing the Kingdom’s underground youth culture. While photographing the new generation of Saudis, Osamah, also known as Urbfitter,looks for people who are “raw, unique and themselves,” as she described to Grazia Middle East.
The 26-year-old, who explores multiplicity, authenticity and androgyny through her photography, has launched an online project, Recent Mag. Through the first platform of its kind in the Kingdom, she aims to support young creatives by showcasing their work. She hopes this will encourage them to detail the changes taking place in the Kingdom. “I want to be remembered, not only as the first one who started, but I want to be remembered as the one who documented my generation in a very good and truthful way and for someone who opened the door for so many people like me,” the gifted shutterbug also toldGrazia Middle East.Osamah, who hopes to inspire others through her work, also wants to switch up how people look at Saudi and its residents through the online community.
An unmistakable Saudi enthusiast, Osamah has been commissioned by big brands and magazines like Diesel Arabia, GQ, Lomar and Farfetch. She was behind the online luxury fashion retail platform’sThrough Their EyesSaudi-based campaign. The campaign highlighted the daily life and journey of seven of the Kingdom’s young, creative tastemakers and showcased Jeddah and Riyadh through their eyes. As well as providing a different perspective through the ultra-hip males and females, it celebrated Saudi Arabia’s most iconic landmarks like King Fahad’s Fountain and the Riyadh Water Tower.
Osamah has been cultivating her passion for photography from the age of 16. Turning to YouTube for some guidance, she started off by documenting her outfits on Instagram, where she now has 14,500 followers. The creative, who loves fellow Saudi Taha Baageel’s work, prefers to shoot in abandoned places and historical locations like Jeddah’s Albalad.
