I’ve always been inclined to a rose-tinted perspective. So, with plenty of stories of human afflictions, saturating the media, I contemplated alternative narratives to all the impending doom and searched for my own utopia. I had an urge to escape the perils of routine, explore what it means to be alive, and capture simple sentiments with my camera.

Sarandib – Serendipity – coined by the Arabs when they landed by chance on the “Island of Jewels”, represents the art of unexpected discoveries that bring benefit or happiness. The en-chanting notion of ‘serendipity’ was my newfound inspiration for photography and my constant quest for silver linings.

These photographs depict content fleeting moments and serendipitous encounters. The photos were taken in the ‘Pearl of the Indian Ocean’ Maputo, Mozambique, in the spring of 2019, during a full immersion Photo workshop with my photography maestro, Nicolas Pascarel.

Heba is passionate about photography not just as a contemporary art form, but as a means of articulation and personal expression. She finds photography captivating for its capacity to tell a story, both about the photographer and the subject in front of the lens; Photography can evoke a sense of intrigue, questions and emotions. Visually, colour for her is of utmost importance and can see in colour. Heba graduated in 2022 from University of the Arts in London, taking the MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography course.