Photo of the Week: Abdel Majeed Al-Roudhan

Saudi photographer Abdel Majeed Al-Roudhan's photographs alternate between beautiful images of Saudi's impressive landscape - ones that could possibly end up as Microsoft lockscreens - and equally awe-inspiring images from Saudi's social landscape. Across that broad range, Al-Roudhan is steadfast in the love with which he takes photos.

"My photographic practice is concerned with the relationship between humans, place, memory, and time," Al-Roudhan tells SceneNowSaudi, "Through photography, I try to reconsider the value of familiar or forgotten spaces, objects, and human interactions. Rather than preserving the past as it was, my work focuses on the traces that experiences leave behind and how they continue to shape our perception of the present." Al-Roudhan's practice moves between documentary and conceptual photography, with an ongoing interest in memory, landscape, social history, and the shifting relationship between humans and their environment.

What’s the story behind this image? Where and when was it taken?

Captured in a traditional market in Jazan, this image was born from a moment of refusal. I approached an elderly woman for a portrait, but she gently declined, raising her hand to cover her face behind a straw fan. In that brief moment, I captured her hand and gesture of refusal instead of the portrait I was looking for. Between traces of henna and the quietness of the moment, the act of turning away became the essence of the image.

Why did you choose this particular image?

I don’t have a specific reason beyond it feeling the closest to me personally. I only published it years later, and I didn’t expect it to circulate or become known in this way. Over time, it became less of a deliberate choice and more of an honest moment that gradually came to represent me in ways I didn’t plan for.