Who is Sabriya Simon

Sabriya Makini Simon was born 31 years ago under a midnight Libra moon in Kingston, Jamaica. She attended the Hope Field Prep School, and was also a student at the Edna Manley School of Dance (from the age of 4). However, she moved to Antigua with her parents and brother a few months before her 5th birthday.

Growing up in Antigua, she was trained in classical ballet, and was also a part of the national track & field team for a few years. However, both activities came to a stop several months before her CXC Examinations in 1994, and after completing her A-Levels in college, she returned to Kingston in 1998 for university.

At the end of 1999, she realised that something was missing in her life and she needed to go in a different direction. In 2000, she changed her focus from the Pure & Applied to the Behavioural Sciences, returned to Edna Manley School of Dance in the evenings, joined the Jamaica Poetry Society, and got her first SLR Film camera…a Nikon. She has been in love with the Nikon brand ever since, and has never betrayed it, as she now owns her second Digital SLR, a Nikon.

She went on to complete her first degree in Psychology and subsequently, her Masters in Applied Organisational Psychology at the University of the West Indies.

At the end of 2006, Sabriya was inspired to move away from flash photography and to learn more about the manual aspects and potential of her camera, to appreciate the value of natural and available light. So in January 2007, she took an evening course in beginners photography for one semester at the Edna Manley School of Visual Arts.

She entered her first, and only up to this date, competition in 2007: The Annual JCDC/NGJ National Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition. All three pieces entered made it on the walls of the National Gallery, for which she received two Certificates of Merit and one Silver Medal.

“When it comes to photography, my aim is to capture natural beauty and for it to be reflected as such when the image is finally presented, using only natural and available lighting while capturing. No make-up. No airbrushing etc. In my opinion, beauty abides in and through all people/ things etc. Everything is Divine. And so to me, everyone is perfectly imperfect and imperfectly perfect, so the goal/ challenge is to find simply an ounce of that beauty and capture it… as it is in front of me… through my eyes… through my lens. To Capture it… not attempt to CREATE it via editing.”

She knows that in the near future, due to her strong passion for interior décor, she will choose to dive deeper into that realm of photography. Moreover, her love for Yoga has aligned her with Shakti http://www.facebook.com/l/482c1;Mind.Body.Fitness., {One of Jamaica’s leading yoga & fitness Studios}, and she has been its in-house photographer for around a year now. The launch of her first photo exhibit last week in Jamaica marked the beginning of Sabriya Simon’s career as a professional photographer.

***Catch Sabriya Simon's photography this Thursday, 25th February, at Expressions – Poetry in the Pub at O’Grady’s Bar (formerly Funky Buddha) on Redcliffe Street. The evening kicks off at 8:30 p.m. The night’s theme will be “Black Soul”. For artistes interested in performing up to three pieces that night, sign up in advance by emailing augustrush.antigua@gmail.com or call 268-779-6634, 268-783-4120 or 268-780-7754