‘Alasig’, which means joy in Bajau language is a collaborative photography zine between Malaysian documentary photographer Byron Mohammad Hamzah and the stateless children of Semporna in Sabah, Malaysia. Since 2023, Mohammad Hamzah has been volunteering teaching art and photography at Borneo Komrad, an NGO that provides free education to stateless children and youths in the state of Sabah by establishing free ‘Alternative Schools’ around the state.

 This work forms part of his overarching documentary photo-project entitled ‘Bunga dan Tembok – Pemuda-Pemuda Tidak Berwarganegara Semporna’ (The Flower and The Wall – The Stateless Youths of Semporna), which is a nuanced exploration of the lives of stateless children from the Bajau Laut community through various collaborative photographic activities and imaging interventions with the students.

 The project was a finalist at the Paris Photo Carte Blanche Award and won third place at the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize in the UK.

 Apart from the students’ artworks and writings seen in this zine, the students were also involved in the zine design and image sequencing.

All of the proceeds made from the sale of this zine will be donated back to the organisation for the upkeep and management of the schools.

Byron Mohammad Hamzah is a Malaysian documentary photographer and has an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from University of the Arts, London. His work has been featured in the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025 and 2023, the Paris Photo Carte Blanche Award, and Europe Queer Photo Festival 2022. Mohammad Hamzah was also a winner in the 2020 Portrait of Britain Photography Prize.

Zine specifications:

148 x 210 mm (A5)

60 pages

Soft cover with stapled binding

Limited edition of 200