Ahmed Khirelsid (b. 2001, Omdurman, Sudan) is an internationally recognized Sudanese contemporary documentary photographer and visual storyteller whose practice captures the fragile, shifting realities of life amidst national upheaval. His passion for the camera was ignited at the age of eighteen during the historic 2019 Sudanese Revolution, where he felt an urgent, visceral need to document the fast-moving, chaotic demonstrations demanding civil rule. Since then, his camera has evolved into a vital historical archive, a vehicle for self-discovery, and a therapeutic tool for processing deep personal trauma.

Khirelsid’s raw, black-and-white visual vocabulary achieved massive global attention through his critically acclaimed 2024 body of work, Under Control. The deeply personal project serves as an emotional testimony of the morning of 15 April 2023, when full-scale war erupted in Khartoum. Forced to flee his family home under intense artillery fire to an abandoned village safehouse, Khirelsid turned the lens inward, using shadow aesthetics and evocative portraiture to explore the psychological weight, mental exhaustion, and profound uncertainty shared by displaced civilians.