100 photos document Al-Sulaymaniyah street figure

Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah

A three-day photo exhibition opened Al-Sulaymaniyah’s old Al-Qassabin neighborhood in the Kurdistan Region, presenting 100 images that document 12 years in the life of Kaka Hama Binamous, a well-known street personality in the city.

Kaka Hama spent years moving through Al-Sulaymaniyah’s streets, alleys, and public spaces, becoming a familiar figure to residents and part of the city’s social memory despite living much of his life on society’s margins.

Photographer Faiq Hama Saleh told Shafaq News that he spent 12 years following Hama across the places where he lived, aiming to build a visual record of his daily life beyond the public image attached to him.

“I documented Hama’s life in the ruined houses where he took shelter, when snow fell on him, when dogs chased him, as he moved through alleys, ate, or slept,” Saleh said. “Every moment carried a different story worth telling.”

Saleh chose Al-Qassabin, one of Al-Sulaymaniyah’s oldest popular neighborhoods, because Hama had lived there for a long period and because the area formed part of his memory and story. The photographer stated that he dedicated his work over the past years to the project, describing Hama’s life as “not just the story of one person, but a human story worth preserving in memory.”