My name is Raba Abro (b.2001) and I am a Pakistani-American Documentarian and Imagemaker based out of Baltimore, MD. In Urdu, we have an ocean of a word , ‘Fakir’ with a meaning that begins to scrape away at who I am and the work I make. Fakir (fa·kir) - refers to the one who is self-sufficient and only possesses the spiritual need for God, from Arabic origin faqir, meaning"poor man". In essence, I am a beggar for God’s love.
My work is like food and drink to me, nourishing the internal hunger for Divine union; it is essential to my Being and carves a purposeful path of devotional expression. My story is one of survival in the most beautifully intelligent way; a testament of the wisdom of my Ancestral lineage. It is my spiritual backbone that allows me to journey to the place between this world and all the rest. My work appears as an Opening into All and serves to magnify and praise the act of Creation itself. I channel this bridge from a deep point of creative bliss, where I am at One with my Creator and my Creations. As I satisfy myself with the love of my God, may you also drink from the outpourings of our communion through this work. I do not wish to remove you from your world when you enter mine; arrive in-tact and leave with nothing or everything.
Thank you for receiving me truly.
On image-making
This practice is one of masterful diffusion and intimacy, an effort to capture my own conversations with the Cosmos. My photos become clear to me only at that moment before I shutter my lens. That is where I Am (usually and naturally). The result are images that feel so instinctually sure of their subject, with absolute clarity and knowing. Like the warm sweet wind before the rain; a question and an answer. My work stands with that same directness and its ability to convey deep archetypal truths. I enjoy exploring narratives that challenge the container of my humanity, where I can remove myself from the equation and let God into the room. Conveyed with a tone that is both sobering and dissolute, a level of truth that is almost unnerving for us both. I activate my work through this process, doing everything that I can from this side of the veil; taking us all breaths and sweet inhales away from the Divine One. This sacred work is my Ibadat.
(act of worship, submission, adoration).
On the self / Parting words
As the Ruler of my Self; I am the only judge, the only guide, the only healer. I allow myself to float through this internal realm with full agency and will. I have learned to trust this instinct out of pure love and survival throughout my life. Please, disarm yourself here, and enter this space of my work with submission to the forces of creation at play. Join me in this devotional act of weaving our lives together, you are necessary and truly welcome here. We will learn together how to speak from the clear bead at the center of all life; the Self. May my work continue to open doorways for me to explore my highest potential, where each and every prayer is replied with a loving and all-encompassing YES. My works echo the Ghazals of the great Sufi mystics that prepared this oasis for me to find. Thank you for growing here, with me. It means my soil is fertile enough and my water is abundant. Leave my work and feel full of Consciousness and Love. You and I are One through all of this expansion my art creates for me. Please stay as long as you wish.
With deepening purpose and gratitude,
Raba Kamran Abro
Thank you to my dear friend VILLAGER, who inspires me to a state of maddening creation. Your level of self-mastery has opened the door for us all to return home.