A photograph doesn't simply document a fleeting moment — it becomes a record that preserves place, people, and memory for future generations. This is the idea behind the project "Our Jordan Through Our Eyes: From Hobby to Profession," which trains young people across the Kingdom's governorates in photography, turning their passion for images into a tool for documenting the national narrative and showcasing Jordan's details through the eyes of its own youth.
اضافة اعلان
The project — a genuinely national initiative — aims to train 240 young men and women from all 12 governorates of the Kingdom, through 45 hours of training combining theoretical knowledge, practical application, and field trips, with the goal of developing photography skills and moving participants from the hobbyist stage to professional-level work. The project is supported and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture.
Photographer Sami Al-Zoubi, the project's founder, said the idea behind "Our Jordan Through Our Eyes" is that the country's own people should be the ones documenting its details, stressing that photography has become an essential part of preserving national memory, especially given the rapid growth of visual content and its role in showcasing place, people, and heritage.
Al-Zoubi added that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince launched the national narrative from Tafileh Governorate, stemming from the importance of focusing on national heritage and highlighting its presence — a starting point that formed one of the project's core foundations. He noted that Tafileh will be the project's next stop, on September 4.
He explained that the project isn't limited to teaching participants the technical aspects of photography, but aims to build in them a genuine ability to engage with place, people, and events as essential elements of image-making, through hands-on training, fieldwork, and discovering and documenting sites and landmarks.
Al-Zoubi pointed out that interest in the project across the governorates has been notable, citing the Ajloun stop, which received around 230 applicants, from whom 43 trainees were selected — reflecting the scale of youth interest in photography and their desire to acquire new skills they can build on professionally.
In Madaba, 48 trainees took part, with women's participation exceeding 68%, drawn from a range of professional and academic backgrounds, including a doctor, an engineer, a nurse, and a designer — underscoring how broad the interest in photography has become, cutting across age groups and professions.
He noted that the Madaba experience carried a national and humanitarian dimension, documenting the coexistence and religious brotherhood the governorate is known for, through visits to a number of mosques, churches, and historical sites, alongside the Madaba Institute for Mosaic Art and the home of writer Ghaleb Halasa — reflecting the diversity of the area's cultural and social identity.
Al-Zoubi stressed that the practical component forms a core part of the project, as trainees move from theoretical knowledge to the field to apply what they've learned — something that sometimes requires long hours of work and travel under difficult field conditions.
He noted that some outings, including trips to the Machaerus area, extended over many hours and involved climbing mountains and moving between sites in order to reach the right angles for documenting landmarks and scenes, affirming that this experience gives trainees a different understanding of photography — as a process of research, discovery, and documentation, not merely taking a picture.
He explained that capturing a truly valuable photograph requires knowledge of the place, patience, and the ability to choose the right moment and angle, noting that the ultimate goal is to produce visual content reflecting the unique character of each governorate and its social, cultural, natural, and historical details.
The Tafileh Governorate stop is set to launch on September 5, as part of the project's continuing rollout across the governorates, aiming to broaden participation and give more young people the chance to acquire photography and documentation skills, and to contribute to building a diverse national visual archive. Tafileh was chosen for its educated young talent and its rich historical, cultural, and natural heritage, making it an important stop in the "Our Jordan Through Our Eyes" project to document the national narrative through the lenses of young people.
Al-Zoubi believes that reaching different governorates across the Kingdom allows for building a comprehensive visual archive of Jordan — one that doesn't limit itself to well-known tourist sites, but extends to everyday details, human stories, customs, professions, and places that together make up the memory of society.
Al-Zoubi called for expanding partnership and collaboration with relevant ministries and national institutions, foremost among them the ministries of Tourism and Antiquities, Youth, Environment, and Labor and Vocational Training, alongside the Crown Prince Foundation, in order to unify efforts, integrate roles, and maximize the project's national impact.
He affirmed that "Our Jordan Through Our Eyes" needs greater collaboration with relevant bodies, especially since its goals intersect with the fields of tourism, antiquities, environment, youth, and vocational training, noting that integrated efforts could open broader pathways for participants in training, qualification, and access to the job market.
He explained that support for the project shouldn't be viewed merely as funding for a photography activity, but as an investment in youth and in documenting Jordan's visual memory — especially since the project's outputs could serve as archival, tourism, cultural, media, and environmental material that can be drawn upon in the future.
Al-Zoubi extended his thanks to the Minister of Culture and the Ministry's Secretary-General for their close follow-up on the project and continuous support for its stops, affirming that this attention serves as motivation to continue the project and expand its reach across the Kingdom's governorates, achieving its intended goal of building a national visual archive that documents Jordan through the eyes of its own people.
The project's ambitions don't stop at training — its organizers are also exploring the possibility of moving toward a more professional stage through cooperation with bodies specializing in skills and vocational training, enabling the development of a professional accreditation track and certificates that could help young people enter the job market and put their photography and visual content-creation skills to use.
Al-Zoubi stressed the importance of linking the training to labor market needs, so that the skills acquired don't remain confined to the level of a hobby, but instead become a genuine opportunity for young people to build a professional future in photography and visual content, in line with the broader push toward empowering youth and developing their practical skills.
Among the project's key planned outcomes is preparation for a closing exhibition featuring 240 photographs — 20 from each governorate's participants — alongside a competition to select the top three works in the amateur category and the top three in the professional category.
Al-Zoubi noted that the closing exhibition will serve as a visual summary of the project, and an opportunity to showcase young people's work to the public, presenting Jordan through the eyes of its own youth, with all the stories and details the photographs carry about place, people, heritage, nature, and history.
According to Al-Zoubi, the project affirms that photography can be more than just an artistic practice or personal hobby — it can become a means of preserving national memory, strengthening a sense of belonging, and showcasing place, especially when the photographer is a native of the place, capable of capturing details a passing lens might miss.
Between the lens of a young man standing before a historical landmark, a young woman documenting the details of her city, and a group of trainees spending long hours on field trips, the "Our Jordan Through Our Eyes" project seeks to build a visual narrative of Jordan that isn't written in words alone, but is also preserved in thousands of photographs telling the story of place and people through the eyes of its own youth — establishing a national visual memory that stretches from one governorate to another, and from one generation to the next.
