Somaliland:Adnan Abdo Mohamed, Somaliland’s Instagram star

By: Kate Stanworth

Horndiplomat- Adnan Abdo Mohamed is a street photographer and medical student who roams the downtown areas of Somaliland’s cities capturing candid and colourful street scenes with his smartphone. Over the past couple of years he has developed a large following for his Instagram account @throughadnanslens.

His work is being shared by many popular Instagram accounts including @EverydayHornOfAfrica @AfricanGallery @Streets_Storytelling @ForAfricans These photos are being selected by Photographer Kate Stanworth to display them at London’s Oxford House as part of this year’s Somali Week Festival.

The photos are among his two latest photo essays “Eid Al Fitr celebration” featuring how Somalis celebrate one of the biggest Muslim festivals and “Heroines of Everyday” which is Adnan’s most recent photo essay featuring the Somali mothers that work and hustle at the streets of Hargeisa, just to make sure their children are well fed and sleep comfortable. The series of street photographs are taken in Hargeisa and Burao, Somaliland.

“To me photography is much more than the art of making images. It is a magical art of storytelling, every picture tells a story. For me capturing moments and glimpses from the streets is a phenomena. I don’t know the people I capture on the streets, but they become my friends by seeing their pictures. I share in their pain and happiness, struggle and hustle.”

Adnan Abdo Mohamed is a street photographer