In 'Everyman’s Mountain', Omar Al Gurg presents a compelling series of photographs documents Kilimanjaro’s striking ecological diversity, captured through Al Gurg’s attentive and empathetic gaze during a six-day journey in 2021. His work offers a nuanced exploration of the mountain as a living, evolving ecosystem shaped by natural forces and human presence.

Al Gurg’s mission was to fill a visual gap – Kilimanjaro’s complex environmental zones remain under-represented in contemporary photography. His images reveal the mountain’s layered habitats, from mist-laden forests and regenerating moorlands affected by recent fires to the fragile ice caps near the summit. Throughout the journey, Al Gurg and a group of hikers were supported and outnumbered by a team of porters, whose vital role underscores the communal and human dimension of this often solitary narrative. His deliberate pauses to document subtle details – light filtering through foliage, the resilience of new growth, and shifting cloud formations – reflect a profound attentiveness that transcends the physical challenge.

At the heart of 'Everyman’s Mountain' lies a meditation on scale and significance. Al Gurg’s experience reveals the mountain as a site where human presence feels both essential and insignificant, a reminder of our fleeting impact against enduring natural cycles. The photographs quietly confront environmental urgency – melting glaciers, forest fire scars, and the delicate balance of Kilimanjaro’s ecosystems – inviting viewers to reflect on their own relationship to nature and collective responsibility.

'Everyman’s Mountain' is not about conquest but about process: the act of seeing, appreciating, and bearing witness. It is a visual testament to resilience, vulnerability, and the quiet beauty found in the mountain’s every detail, encouraging us all to engage with the natural world through a lens of humility and stewardship.