A Celebration of Storytelling

More than 1200 people visited the ‘Framing Life’ exhibition taking place in Downtown Cairo. Eleven photographers showcased their compelling, intimate, and personal photo stories as a result of four workshops at DEDI given by teachers from the Danish School of Media and Journalism.

By Elisabeth Vang Jørgensen

As the sun is setting over Downtown Cairo, a crowd gathers in front of Kodak Passageway. It’s a small green oasis for pedestrians tucked away from the noisy Adly Street, where the old store, lab, and garage of Kodak, have been redeveloped to become a gallery space. Here the opening night for the ‘Framing Life’ exhibition is taking place and a sense of excitement, pride, and celebration fills the air as friends and family congratulate the photographers, while by-passers stop to see what all the buzz is about.

Inside the space are photo stories produced by eleven talented Egyptian photographers. Survivors are at the center stage with compelling and intimate portraits of women surviving breast cancer and stories of surviving a loss, blackmail, sexual abuse, or surviving living in the megacity of Cairo. Walking around in the hall with its raw, concrete floor and pillars, the stories stand out and leaves a mark on viewers as the unseen side of the television modeling industry, kidnappings, and child labor are being portrayed.

The exhibition is a result of four workshops hosted at DEDI given by Søren Pagter, Gitte Luk, and Mads Grevefrom the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX). Since November 2021, they have taught the Egyptian participants about visual storytelling, genres, ethics, portraiture, and story writing. Now, all the lessons learned are reflected in their final story for the ‘Framing Life’ exhibition taking place at Kodak Passageway.

A GPS System

On one of the concrete walls, six photos are mounted showcasing a tube of toothpaste, a cut-up lemon, and several portraits of a long-bearded man. “And I think to myself, this is not what I’m supposed to do with my time on earth,” a sentence states which is part of a longer text next to the photos.

More and more people are gathering around the photo story ‘Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’ exploring Moataz Zaki’s series of self-portraits documenting his process of finding his way back to passion.

More than ten years ago, he started out as a photojournalist in Egypt, but after the revolution in 2011 he went abroad to stay in Malaysia working a 9-5 job. Seven years later, he is back in Cairo again, and for the exhibition, he created a very personal photo project to rediscover his love for photography.

“For me, it’s not been an easy process to select a topic and commit to it. I have had many sleepless nights, and even after committing I had days where I felt like what I was doing wasn’t a comprehensive project,” he says but continues elaborating on the benefits of working with the instructors from DMJX. “Having them here has been a great experience because it feels like having the best GPS system. They guide you through a very rocky trip, where you’re not exactly sure where you want to go, but you know that you should just keep on going,” he says with a smile.

Process of Learning

As the warm Saturday night progresses in Downtown Cairo on the opening night more than 400 hundred visitors stop by to watch the exhibition and get the opportunity to talk with the photographers themselves.

 “It’s really interesting to see how people interact with your work,” Mohamed Anwar says. Growing up in Mansura, his photo story explores the estranged relationship many newcomers have to the megacity Cairo. A series of black and white photos are set up on the concrete wall and are surrounded by small stories of Kotb, Menna, Muna and Attia all gathered under the title ‘What am I doing here?’.

“I really like how this exhibition sparks conversations between us. After reading and looking at my photo story, someone came up to me and explained how they could relate to my message and were going through a similar emotional process,” Mohamed Anwar explains and elaborates on the process leading up to the exhibition.

 “I’ve never been part of setting up an exhibition before, so working closely with Søren and Gitte, who have years of experience, I really got to see how every detail matters – is this the right size? What needs to align where? Is the text placed correctly? To be part of every step on the way has been amazing.”

The Impact of Photojournalism

At the back wall of the hall, Nadine Khalife’s work is showcasing kids, and elderly people amongst colourful, demolished buildings. Her project is about the expanding infrastructure of Cairo and how it affects the cityscape and local communities.

She has never worked professionally with photography but has a background in the development field. “Because of my work I’ve always been in close contact with a lot of different people and especially vulnerable ones. I’ve always wondered how I could tell their stories and I think photography allows me to do that.”

The desire to tell stories of the vulnerable, the unheard and the survivors are the underlying current in all the eleven stories. Reflecting on the themes of the photo stories, Head of the Photojournalism Department at DMJX, Søren Pagter, says “To me, the best way to describe these projects is courageous. They deal with stories that are not easy to tell, but by having a very personal and intimate approach, it makes it possible for us as spectators and readers to relate.”

About 1200 visitors came to watch “Framing Life”, and this was of special importance to Moataz Zaki. “It’s been a long time since I’ve published any of my work because I wanted it to have an actual impact. I wanted my work to be more than some nice pictures and instead be a story, someone can relate to, get inspired by, and connect to on a human, more complex level,” he says and continues, “Observing how people take their time to really see and read our stories, makes me feel so excited and most of all satisfied and fulfilled.”

Watch the video from The Language of Photojournalism exhibition and workshops:

List of Teachers

Søren Pagter, Head of Photojournalism at DMJX

Gitte Luk, Retired Associate Professor at DMJX

Mads Greve, Associate Professor at DMJX

List of Participants

Islam Safwat

Ahmed Mostafa

Sally Gindy

Nadine Khalife

Moataz Zaki

Mohamed Anwar

Shrouk Ghonim

Sahl Abdelrahman

Gilan Hefny

Sara Younes

Lamees Saleh

Read more from DEDI:

A taste of Framing Life

Language of Photojournalism

Outdoor Storytelling