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Avid adventurer Mona Ahmed Jumaan, who has always had a passion for photography, has put her shutterbug skills to good use…sharing different destinations on social media and her blog in a bid to inspire future travellers and feed their wanderlust.
The talented photographer has visited more than 50 countries so far and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.
“My choice of destination is about the experiences the country has to offer,” the Bahraini, who has a double major in English and education, told GulfWeekly. “I might travel to the same country twice or thrice with three different itineraries.”
Mona started blogging because she wanted to share her adventures with the world and was soon surprised by the number of questions she was asked about her trips.
“It brings me joy to pass on the lessons I learned,” the former teacher said. “Perhaps, somewhere down the line, I’ll think about how to commercialise the services, but for now, they are all available on my website, free of charge.
“I love to share my experience as a traveller with people who would find it challenging to travel to these destinations.”
Over the years, Mona has travelled to exciting places, from Mongolia to Mexico and all the way to Greenland and Uganda. She has also explored all types of photography styles, but constantly found herself gravitating towards the very thing that inspired her love for photography ... travel, nature, landscapes and nightscapes.
“My late father was a traveller,” added Mona who was initially inspired by documentaries and books. “As I was far too young to join him in his adventures, exploring the corners of the world, I spent my childhood pouring over every National Geographic magazine I could get my hands on.
“I checked the places he talked about, looking up countries and cultures in encyclopaedias and gigantic coffee table books. Naturally, those were the seeds that led to my passion today.
“More than anything else though, I remember growing up wanting to visit all the places I read about as a child and cross them off my bucket list, one by one.”
Funnily enough though, despite the iconic covers of National Geographic, what truly ignited her love of photography was a travel brochure.
“I came across a brochure during a summer vacation in London, UK, back in 2009,” she explained. “It featured images of the Aurora Borealis, laying out a trip of a lifetime to the Arctic city of Kiruna, Sweden. And I thought to myself, I have to see this.
“My very next thought was ... how they captured those lights. At the time, I was the dedicated photographer who took family photos during Eid and family gatherings, but that brochure sent me on a mission to understand nightscape photography and the inner workings of a camera in manual mode (which, of course, I had no clue).
“A friend suggested I reach out to George Mathew (Grey Image Photo). We met a couple of times before I travelled. I came back with 40 images, 39 blurred, and just a single one in focus.
“However, I had unforgettable memories. That was a turning point, and I decided to pursue photography as more than a hobby. I had found my calling!”
Some of her favourite photos include her Milky Way shot taken in Hawar Island, the icebergs of Greenland, the gorillas in Uganda and the annular eclipses in Abu Dhabi.
“I love that my photos tell a story about the places I have been to,” she said. “And I love that every time I look at them, they take me right back.”
Find out more about her travels by visiting www.monajumaanphotography.com or follow her
@monajumaan on Instagram.
