A Bahraini photographer has created a striking video compilation of the kingdom’s most stunning sunsets, aiming to highlight the country’s safety and natural beauty amid ongoing regional tensions.
Basma Alhashimi shared the video on Instagram last week, featuring a series of sunsets and iconic landmarks, alongside a message reminding residents and citizens that ‘Bahrain remains beautiful, always’.
The 29-year-old emphasised that, in an era increasingly dominated by AI-generated visuals flooding social media, her work is human-made, reflecting, time, patience and authentic moments that cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence alone.
“Right now, it is not a good idea for photographers like myself to go out and take pictures of the country, and I have been seeing a lot of AI-generated images and videos on my feed,” Ms Alhashimi, who works full-time as a senior accountant, told the GDN. “So, I thought of putting something together myself from footage I already have. It is not an easy situation for Bahrain at the moment, and while many artworks are being shared to promote the country as safe, I felt it was important to show real visuals of how peaceful and beautiful it truly is.”
Having ventured into time-lapse photography in 2018, Ms Alhashimi revisited her archives and compiled footage captured between 2021 and 2025 into a three-minute video showcasing the kingdom’s beauty.
She made a conscious effort to include recognisable Bahraini landmarks in her work, ensuring the scenes are clearly tied to the country rather than appearing as genetic sunset imagery. Featured locations include the Shaikh Isa bin Salman Causeway, Bahrain World Trade Centre, Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, Bahrain Financial Harbour, as well as areas in Muharraq, Bahrain International Airport and the Tree of Life.
She also captured several shots from skyscrapers across Manama.
Many of the clips were captured spontaneously, as sunsets can be unpredictable in both timing and colour.
“I enjoy shooting time lapses because people often only glance at a sunset for a few seconds and miss its full beauty,” she said. “With time lapses, everything is captured; you can really see the colours and the transformation.”
All footage was shot using her Canon R5 Mark II. Ms Alhashimi, who began her photography journey in 2012, said she had long planned to release a project like this to show her support for Bahrain, possibly in collaboration with local musicians. However, she noted that reviewing years of archived material is a time-consuming process and wanted to share the video as soon as possible.
“This situation pushed me to finally create and share it, and I feel proud that it has been received well,” she said.
She also shared her perspective on the use of AI in creative work. “I am not entirely against it,” she said, noting that the technology can be helpful in simplifying the editing process.
“For example, if I take a photo and there is a plastic bag in the background, AI makes it easy to remove it,” she explained. “But I don’t use it to create something I didn’t capture myself. In my opinion, AI can never replace the human element in art.”
Beyond time lapses, Ms Alhashimi also captures supermoons, landscapes, architecture, and other striking scenes across Bahrain.
Follow her on Instagram @basmaalhashimi.
julia@gdnmedia.bh
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