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Tanya Habjouqa

AmbassadorPhotojournalism
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Tanya was born in Jordan and raised between Texas and the Middle East. She recalls receiving her first camera as a gift from her father while visiting Jordan as a young girl, and reflects on the excitement of waiting for the film to develop and the sense of agency she felt to articulate more painful feelings, without saying a word.

I love how photography has the power to evoke such raw emotions and catalyst change. Sometimes, you only have to capture a single portrait, to transform an entire narrative.

Tanya Habjouqa

The first cameras I began working with were the D810 and D750, and I’ve since photographed countless projects and assignments with Nikon. My Nikon gear has given me the freedom for constant exploration, allowing me to seek out incredibly profound moments that may not have been seen in passing, or on the surface. I’ve found myself obsessed with the Z 9 since adding it to my kit bag – in my opinion there has never been a stronger camera in my repertoire, either in durability or strength of raw files. The Z 9 shoots like a medium-format in terms of quality of files and – when paired with the old-school mechanical 35mm or 50mm lenses – is smaller and less intimidating as a camera. For me it brings back the raw chance of photography past, when we were shooting film and didn’t have such perfect digital control. It feels more real. And while you take chances and don't always nail every shot, you know you will always secure one that just feels perfect. There’s the best of digital technology in the body and the best of the heyday of photography – when there was more mystery – in the lenses. Nikon offers me the perfect combo.

What’s in my bag