Tasweer Dialogues: Short Course with Khalid Ismail & Khalifa Al Obaidly
Event
TasweerJoin us for a series of independent short training courses with Khalid Ismail & Khalifa Al Obaidly.
These short training courses offer a combined programme of workshops, photowalks, practical sessions, and review-based learning that explores portraiture, light, place, and photographic process.
Image: ©️Khalid Ismail
About the Short Training Course:
Comprised of independent short training courses, the series brings together studio-based portrait workshops, on-site photowalks, analog photography sessions, and portfolio review formats delivered at Bayt Al Wakrah, alongside a photowalk delivered at Al Areesh Village, Qatar. The programme focuses on clean, high-impact portraiture, controlled and natural light, and intentional approaches to composition, framing, and re-staging. Participants will engage in guided shoots, long-exposure and light-painting techniques, and site-responsive image-making. Dedicated review and critique sessions support reflection on composition, tonal range, storytelling, and visual impact. Together, the series offers a cohesive learning experience rooted in practice, observation, and critical dialogue.
The short course series unfolds as a set of standalone sessions. Participants are invited to join any session according to their interests. Each workshop or photowalk requires separate registration.
About Khalid Ismail & Khalifa Al Obaidly
About Khalifa Al Obaidly:
Qatari photographer Khalifa Al Obaidly originally studied marine biology at Qatar University and completed an MBA at HEC Paris. Underwater photography was one of his earliest formative experiences with the medium. Since 2002, Al Obaidly has concentrated on Qatari tradition and culture through the twin themes of desert and sea, seeking to convey through his photography the importance of traditional wooden boats, called dhows, as reflections of Qatari history and bearers of the spirit of Qatari culture and the soul of pearl divers.
In addition to his own photography practice, Al Obaidly has worked at a number of science and art museums, including the Aquarium at the Qatar National Museum. He worked on a project to construct a museum of photography and build a collection of works, and served as an assistant director at the Museum of Islamic Art through the Qatari National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage.
Al Obaidly is also involved with many Qatari heritage programmes and initiatives. He led the transformation of the Msheireb Art Centre—an old girls’ school in the heart of Doha converted into an art centre—and established the “Found Objects Project” (Echo Memory or Sadda Al Thekraiat), which seeks to create art from found objects for the Heart of Doha Project. He also worked on the four Msheireb Museums: Bin Jelmood House, Radwani House, Mohammed Bin Jassim House, and Company House.
Khalifa led the Fire Station Artist in Residence programme for seven years, developing the programme alongside other initiatives to support local artists and connect them to the international art scene. He established the Photo Festival department under Qatar Museums to celebrate young artists in the region and support their voices and ideas in photography and the arts across the WANA region.
About Khalid Ismail:
Khalid Ismail began his journey in photography in the sixties, a time that birthed various art styles, but it was black-and-white cinema that truly captivated him. He watched his first color film in 1966 titled Love in Tokyo. His initial fascination was with cinema projectors, and he hosted film screenings for family and friends at home.
In the summer of 1980, he traveled to Britain to study English. There, his English teacher, Christine, gifted him a book by the German historian Helmut Gernsheim titled A Concise History of Photography. This book ignited his passion for photography with a quote from its early pages that has stayed with him: “Of what use are lens and light to those who lack in mind and sight?” This quote resonated deeply with him and guided his photographic journey.
Upon returning to Doha, he persuaded his father to buy him a Canon A-1 from Al Maha Store on Abdullah Bin Thani Street. This camera became his cherished tool for capturing some of his most beloved photographs.
His passion for photography continued to grow as he spent countless hours on outdoor shoots and long nights developing films and analyzing each image. This deep commitment to the art eventually led him to teaching. He became a trainer at the Qatar Photography Society and various centers in Doha, and he also conducted courses in Dubai.
Throughout his career, he has not only been influenced by the many people he met but has also made a meaningful impact on others through his dedication to the art of photography.
