THE first Saudi professional female photographer, Susan Baaghil, once again takes the lead in being the first Saudi photojournalist to get an offer from Reuters. She was at the previous Arab summit, taking group photos of Arab leaders as well as doing a portrait of each one of them. The Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, asked her where she was from and was surprised to find that she was a Saudi doing a professional job, wearing hijab that was no obstacle at all. “Representatives from Reuters saw me and I was the only female photographer there,” she explained.
Reuters was aware of Baaghil’s works from international exhibitions in different European countries, including Italy and Belguim. They had also seen her pictures of the Haj accident where pilgrims fell down because of crowds of people that swarmed during the stoning of the devil.
She was invited to take pictures by the Ministry of Information while she was performing Haj.
The day before the accident, a group of photojournalists went to take pictures but she did not go because she was stoning the devil. “The deputy minister of information told me that they would let me take photos the next day,” she explained. The next day she went on a military helicopter. “That is why I was the only photographer to take shots with a wider view.” She took photos before, during and after the accident. The Agence France Presse and other agencies wanted to buy these pictures but she said, “I felt patriotic and gave the pictures to the concerned organization which is the Ministry of Interior. The pictures were displayed on the news when General Mansour Al-Turki was speaking live to news channels about the accident. My pictures showed that the accident happened because some pilgrims were carrying their luggage with them during the stoning,” she said.
Baaghil said that some people had made unkind remarks online about her joining Reuters. When the news organization became aware of the comments, an official contacted Baaghil and said her work proved that she was well-qualified.
She owns a studio, does commercial photography and manages with her daughter a team of photographers specialized in weddings. Baaghil also freelances with a number of publications including Sayidaty magazine, a sister publication of Arab News and the Kuwaiti Waladi magazine.