Capturing the Moment
Aina Izzah chats with photographer Nadirah Zakariya whose most riveting photos are when she’s in front of the camera
Nadirah Zakariya photographs phenomenal portraits featuring raw emotions that landed her multiple international coverage
Having managed master classes for budding photographers and coaching them on visual poetry and portraits, the one advice that Nadirah Zakariya would often give is, “Shoot from the heart.” Evidenced from her varied projects of portraits featured in the likes of Vogue Italia, The New York Times and exhibited at Ilham Gallery Kuala Lumpur, her words resonate in her body of work, which includes capturing her own image to bring awareness on vitiligo, a condition of pigment loss in certain areas of the skin. “The Fantagirl project for Vogue Italia was very personal, and it was a chance to share my story, and not just my work, to a broader audience. Of course, it has also been a dream to be featured in the magazine’s gallery.” Nadirah also shared the first time that she fell in love with photography: “I remember it was when I printed a photograph for the first time in the darkroom, which was a black and white self-portrait. The moment my face appeared
from the blank piece of paper seemed like magic—i will never forget that moment.” A recent series that employed Nadirah’s skills and approach to photographing people (who were at times strangers to her) was the Two Mountains Photography project held at Ilham Gallery. Requiring her to travel to a town wn near Mount Fuji, the project highlighted ed portraits of the residents accompanied d by penned letters and colourful postcards containing their message for r ‘Fuji-san’ (as Japanese citizens observe the mountain as a person). “I definitely y want to shoot more portrait series like the Fuji-san Love Letters for the Two Mountains Photography project,” she shared. With an aim of injecting emotion into her photographs, staying a while longer to study Nadirah’s work is common, especially when wondering about the thoughts that went behind the camera flashes. Follow Nadirah Zakariya on Instagram at @nadirahzakariya.