Name: Samia Meah
Job: Taking photos
Tips for success: The best decision is to do what you want, other wise you end up dropping out and failing
Role Model > Samia Meah
Samia is one of the longest-serving members of the London Learner Forum who we think is really and truly inspiring; at school she felt like she had to “fight to learn”, but she motivated herself to pursue her passion for photography, despite a lack of encouragement from those around her. Now she is the official photographer for the London role models (so check out her work here!) and is planning to make a career out of her passion. She believes that for young people, “the best decision is to do what you want, otherwise you end up dropping out and failing.” What has your journey been to get to where you are now? I’ve always done all the different arts subjects and I started photography when I was 16; I’d never done it before then and when I found it, I thought photography was better than all the other art forms because I could do all the arts together. I could do fashion, fine art, photography – all in one. What was your education like? I wouldn’t say it provided me with very good opportunities, I didn’t have good attendance and I felt like you had to fight to learn. It provided me with the ability to survive without learning, but I left for sixth form somewhere else, which was much better. What challenges have you faced? I left home when I was 16 because I was from what you’d call a broken home, so when I left for sixth form it wasn’t just a new start in my education, it was like a new life. That was quite challenging. Also, in my background, photography isn’t supported as a serious subject: people say ‘You want to take pictures? Of people? Why don’t you be a barrister instead!’ So I had to motivate myself. Those sound like big challenges – did you have any support? I had Edge and the Learner Forum, and Rose [the National Director of ELF] supported me a lot with my aspirations. I had Hannah, who I work as an assistant for, and she always pushed me and encouraged me, saying that most photography students are from a certain background and that I could do it and I could break the mould. What does success mean to you? Money has never been a motivation to me and I know that money doesn’t make you happy. So I feel quite safe going into photography, knowing that I’ll probably be poor for most of my life! Success for me is setting goals, and achieving them, and keeping on setting myself goals that I can achieve. What drives you and keeps you enthusiastic? I think because I know I’d be unhappy doing anything else – like I know I don’t want to do an office job or a degree in English Lit for example – I think about that and it makes me happy. I basically do photography for fun, so if I’m down I remember that I get to do what I do for fun. Who’s your role model? For a long time I thought there’s no point having idols in life, but talking practically, Hannah’s my role model – I’ve worked with loads of good photographers who treat you like crap but Hannah doesn’t and she teaches me a lot. What advice would you give to young people making choices? Do what you wanna do: don’t do what your parents want, or your teachers or your peers. I think the best decision is to do what you want, otherwise you end up dropping out and failing. My cousin wants to be a photographer, but her parents say it’s not a real job to just take pictures of flowers, or a wall – what would you say to that? Comments like that are usually from people who don’t know anything about photography, but when you meet people working in the industry, or lecturers, teachers – they show you it is art, it is documentary, there is worth in it. If you feel like photography is nothing, you’re putting yourself down; you really need to think what you’re doing is worth something otherwise y ou won’t be able to compete with others.
Photographer
