عبد الرحمن يوسف
SOMALICabdiraxman YusufApprox. “ab-di-rah-maan yoo-suf”
ARABICعَبْد الرَّحْمَٰن يُوسُفʿAbd ar-Raḥmān Yūsuf
Ways of seeing.
Ways of making.
Abdirahman Yusuf, also known as Cabdiraxman Yusuf, is a Somali multidisciplinary artist, cultural producer and civil engineer. His practice connects photography, exhibition-making and the built environment.
About the practice · Full biographySomalia’s inaugural national pavilion.
Commissioner · 2026
Cover photograph & photo essay · The Continent · 2020
Photography, painting, film and poetry by Somali women artists.
National Museum of Somalia, MogadishuHead Curator · 2025
Construction Supervisor · AfDB-funded DRSLPII
Personal photography · cyprints
Photographer
Exhibited, curated, commissioned. Each exhibition records my role and the people behind it.
Abdirahman Yusuf, also known as Cabdiraxman Yusuf, is a Somali multidisciplinary artist, cultural producer and civil engineer. His practice moves between images, buildings and the public spaces where stories are told.
In 2026 he is Commissioner of SADDEXLEEY, Somalia’s inaugural national pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia. His work spans photography, exhibition-making, cultural production and engineering in Somalia and Kenya.
Published and professionally credited as Abdirahman Yusuf.
Structural design, construction supervision and rehabilitation. Selected work includes the AfDB-funded DRSLPII programme with Save the Children and residential construction with Ugbaad Developers in Nairobi.
Read the DRSLPII projectSave the Children
Ugbaad Developers
Ispees Design Studio
Deer Architects
Communications strategy, field documentation and visual production across development, justice and environmental programmes. A mix of contracts and consultancies, including parallel engagements.
MSI / Tetra Tech
Pact / American Bar Association
Norwegian Refugee Council
Ministry of Environment
and Climate Change
Photography, exhibition making and cultural production. Commissioner of SADDEXLEEY; Head Curator of A Window to Her Worlds; exhibiting photographer at HOY and La-tèn-te.
Explore the exhibitionsVenice / Mogadishu
Photography / Exhibitions
BSc Civil Engineering
Bahauddin Zakariya University · 2014–2018
Published stories and photographs from the cyprints archive, with editorial credits and links to the original publications.
Politics, public life and everyday experience in Somalia. Selected photographs and published stories.
A photographic account of the people caring for patients at De Martini Hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic, accompanied by my experience of documenting their work.
COVER PHOTOGRAPH & PHOTO ESSAY
Words and photography: Abdirahman Yusuf
Issue 16 · 15 August 2020 · Pages 15–19
Also published by Mail & Guardian · 16 August 2020
Published in Africanews coverage in 2021 and 2022.
View the published credit
Photographs in circulation, exhibitions in public, and places where the work continues.
Original publications open in a new tab. Photography bylines retain the name Abdirahman Yusuf.