Abul was born in Muvattupuzha, Kerala in 1964 to a progressive Muslim family from Tamil Nadu. He was brought up in the historical town of Mattancherry which features extensively in his works. Abul’s association with theatre, music, art and politics in the post-emergency period moulded a radical thinking, which coupled with a passion for photography that he shared with his father Haneef Rahman made him choose to follow an “unconventional” career in photography. Abul initially became involved in the technicalities of photography and print making by working as an apprentice in a studio during his schooling.

During the 1980s, he set up ‘studio Zen’ and began to work with prominent news agencies and periodicals, in India and abroad. In the meantime, he continued his own personal explorations and documentations of experiences and memories. In 1990, he moved to New Delhi, to work in the Press Trust of India. Among the national political turmoil, involvement with SAHMAT and exposure to intellectual activity centered in Delhi, Abul’s concept of photography shifted from journalism-centric to a medium of self-expression. In 1995, he travelled to France for higher studies in photography through a French government scholarship. He is also the recipient of the Charles Wallace Fellowship. In 1996, he quit his photo-journalism career to pursue an independent art practice. He had already begun exhibiting in 1994 at Kerala Kalapeedam. His works has since been exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally.

Abul moved back to Mattacherry in 1998, continuing his practice and promotion of independent photo-art. His maverick approach to the medium, verging on barbaric, now spanned methods such as stitching, scratching, doodling, sequencing, multiple exposures, and digital painting. Many of his works deal with issues of identity, ethics, micro – macro history, and eroticism. Abul continued his attempts to reach regional audiences that he had earlier attempted through ‘studio Zen’, through ‘Mayalokam Collective’. Encounter, a fortnight long art festival was organized by the Collective in collaboration with other local artists and art organisations. Mayalokam Art Collective was officially dissolved in 2005, but Abul’s Mayalokam studio continued to operate in the same building till 2010.

Since 2010, Abul has been residing in Tiruvannamalai. Here, he initiated the formation of Ekalokam Trust for Photography (EtP). EtP has been informally working since June 2012, aiming to promote and protect photography art and connected art forms and to bring contemporary photo-art to rural India. Currently, Abul is the Director of Project 365, an initiative by EtP that collectively creates and preserves photographic visuals of the fast changing culture and lifestyle of ancient Tamilakam.