Aref has been a member of the Qatar Photographic Society since 2003. His passion for photography started by chance in 2002 when he saw a landscape that drew his attention. He decided at that moment to buy a camera to capture that image. Then after a year of practicing this hobby intermittently, he joined the Qatar Photographic Society where he met leading figures in the field of photography in Qatar including. Jassim Al Mohannadi, Hussein Al Jabir and Abdulrahman Obeidan. Thanks to their guidance which enriched his knowledge in the field of photography, he was inspired to work with new and creative visions that could contribute to making a difference in the photography movement.
But the real transformation occurred when he participated in local and international competitions and won several awards, most notably “Super Circuit” in Austria. He also took part in several exhibitions organized by the Qatar Photographic Society at both local and international levels.

Aref started training other photography enthusiasts in 2006 by conducting photography courses in photography basics, where he trained over 2000 trainees (male and female) within the State of Qatar and other countries from basics to advance photography workshops.