oft white sand, a blue lagoon, crystal-clear water
melting into the endless horizon... Socotra looks
like paradise. Located in the gaping maw of the
Gulf of Aden, 380km south of the coast of Yemen,
the island is home to diverse and unique flora.
In fact, nearly a third of its plant life is endemic,
including the fantastical, red-sap dragon’s blood trees, which
resemble flying saucers on trunks, and desert roses, their
bulbous, elephantine trunks topped with delicate pink blooms.
Here, amid this bizarre beauty, Amira Al Sharif found one
of the most striking subjects for her photo series ‘Yemeni
Women With Fighting Spirits’. Through this project, the Saudi
photographer hopes to correct common misconceptions about
Yemen’s women, and to unveil their courage and resilience.
From her house overlooking Socotra’s Detwah Lagoon,
Sadiya Eissa Soliman Abdullah is keeping watch. Not for the
war that rages a few hundred kilometres to the north, nor for
the group of Al Aragaba tribesmen who are determined to
drive her from her land. For the last few years, she has been
fearful of a new threat hanging over her paradise: a group
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reportage
of investors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who want to
develop this exotic location into a tourist destination. If they
do, what will become of this strong matriarch and her dream
of opening a restaurant?
Sadiya doesn’t know when exactly she was born. What
she does know, is that her father wanted a boy. Then, when
she was eight years old, her father had to leave the island
to work in Mukalla, a seaport on the mainland. Sadiya
remained with her mother and sisters, and a handful of
visiting relatives. With her father away, she woke up at dawn
every morning to dive and fish, coming back a couple of
hours later with a basketful of fish. ‘She’s wonderful,’ their
guests would say. ‘She’s like a boy.’
In Yemen, girls are normally married off at a young age, to a
husband of their parents’ choosing. Not Sadiya. She fell in love
with and married an educated man from Aden who worked as
a teacher. Ten years down the line, she had given birth to seven
children, four boys and three girls now aged between 16 and 27.
She continues to provide for her family by diving and fishing,
waking up at 4am to first tend to her goats. Then she goes intoTheYemeni islandof SOCOTRA is one of the world’s most
MYSTERIOUS paradises. Amid its surreallybeautiful
landscapes, Saudi photojournalistAmira Al Sharif spent
a year capturingone woman’s courageandresilience