EVERYMAN’S MOUNTAIN: LAWRIE SHABIBI
OMAR AL GURG
Everyman’s Mountain, is a compelling series of photographs that documents Kilimanjaro’s striking ecological diversity, captured through Omar Al Gurg’s attentive and empathetic gaze during a six-day journey in 2021. His work offers a nuanced exploration of the mountain as a living, evolving ecosystem shaped by natural forces and human presence.
Al Gurg’s mission was to fill a visual gap — Kilimanjaro’s complex environmental zones remain under-represented in contemporary photography. His images reveal the mountain’s layered habitats, from mist-laden forests and regenerating moorlands affected by recent fires to the fragile ice caps near the summit. Throughout the journey, Al Gurg and a group of hikers were supported and outnumbered by a team of porters, whose vital role underscores the communal and human dimension of this often solitary narrative. His deliberate pauses to document subtle details – light filtering through foliage, the resilience of new growth, and shifting cloud formations – reflect a profound attentiveness that transcends the physical challenge.
At the heart of Everyman’s Mountain lies a meditation on scale and significance. Al Gurg’s experience reveals the mountain as a site where human presence feels both essential and insignificant, a reminder of our fleeting impact against enduring natural cycles. The photographs quietly confront environmental urgency – melting ice caps, forest fire scars, and the delicate balance of Kilimanjaro’s ecosystems – inviting viewers to reflect on their own relationship to nature and collective responsibility.
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