Sentenced to Life, with love. In this photo story Hala Hesham documents the ‘non-fleeting years’ of the elderly in a Cairo senior home. Hala gives us an insight into the daily routines, relations, and lives of the residences at Dar Fouad, one of Cairo’s more high-end care homes. It is exhibited at the Cairo Photo Week as a part of the DEDI-funded DMJX Student Exhibition.
Ten Egyptian photographers received their diplomas at the opening of the Cairo Photo Week after attending a DEDI-sponsored Masterclass on photojournalism.
By Martha Tode
“Impressive”. This was the general reaction to the opening of the DMJX Student Exhibition. The exhibition includes ten powerful photo stories, telling the stories of people’s day-to-day lives and the challenges that they are facing.
The exhibited photo stories are the graduating projects of ten Egyptian photographers, who attended an intensive Masterclass on photojournalism designed by one of Europe’s best photojournalism schools, the Danish School of Media & Journalism (DMJX), in collaboration with Photopia, and funded by DEDI. Over the course of one year, the photographers developed their skills in photographing, text writing, and story building, thus preparing themselves for entering the field as photojournalists professionally.
On the opening night of the Cairo Photo Week, the photographers received their DMJX-accredited diplomas. Also, their teacher Søren Pagter from DMJX joined in from Denmark on Zoom to deliver his graduation speech to the students:
“As photojournalists, we have the responsibility to document crises, conflicts, wars. Yet, we should also remember that there is always a moment after the crises have stopped, where people go back to their daily lives. These moments are just as important to document. It’s by documenting the challenges of daily life that we create an understanding for other people’s life.”
Indeed, the ten photo stories give us an intimate glimpse into the lives and struggles of the people photographed. In one story, we meet Hassiba, a Sudanese refugee reflecting upon ‘what is home?’ while searching for a safe place for her and her five children in this world. In another, a woman is secretly wearing jeans under her dresses, torn between her own and her family’s expectations on how a woman should behave and dress. In a third photo story, the photographer portrays his grandmother in the flat she has lived in for her entire life.
The exhibition located at the Factory Space in Downtown Cairo runs from March 11th to 22nd. It includes the photo stories of Anas Kamal, Hala Hesham, John Nasr, Mahmoud Nada, Mariam Atallah, May Hussain, Mohamed Hozayen, Mohammed Kotb, Mohamed Osam and Peter Loza Below. Below, you will find some of the photos from the exhibition.
From the exhibition
In this photo story Anas Kamal documents the story of 38-year-old Hassiba Alnjabi. She is a single mother to five and left her life in western Sudan to find a safe home for herself and her children. Now she is living as a refugee in Cairo. “Hassiba” is exhibited at the Cairo Photo Week as a part of the DMJX Student Exhibition.
25-years old Mina is working hard to achieve his dream of becoming a professional American Football player in the quarterback position. “Quater a dream” by Peter Loza gives us an insight into Mina’s life, which centers around training and preparations.
Getting married is expensive. In this photo reportage, Mahmoud Nada takes us to a ‘Money cycle wedding’-event. The main goal of this event is for the couple-to-be to collect money to start their lives together. “Money cycle weddings” is exhibited at the Cairo Photo Week as a part of the DMJX Student Exhibition.
“If I move From Here I would Die”. This being a quote from the photographer Mohamed Hozyen’s own grandmother, the photo story documents her in the apartment that she has lived in for her entire life. The story is exhibited at the Cairo Photo Week as a part of the DEDI-funded DMJX Student Exhibition.
In 1847 Mohammad Ali build “Al Qanteer” (a barrage), where the Nile splits in two to irrigate the fertile land of delta cities. Today, it’s a destination for all nearby rural villages for picnicking, fishing and swimming. “Intertwined with the River” by Mohamed Osam is exhibited at the Cairo Photo Week as a part of the DMJX Student Exhibition.
In this photo story by John Nasr we are taken to a coptic neighbourhood in Cairo. Here, many inhabitants work as informal garbage collectors, thus collecting and sorting the waste of the citizen of Cairo. You can experience the full photo story at the Cairo Photo Week where it’s exhibited as a part of the DEDI-funded DMJX Student Exhibition.
May Hussain explores the pressure young girls are facing, when it comes to how to dress and behave. In this photo story, two girls are sharing their reasons for wearing the veil.
“Misery of soft hands” portrays a group of young girls working in red brick factories. The work is rough, but the girls are keeping up the hard work to make the money needed. This photo story is made by Mohamed Kotb and its exhibited at the Cairo Photo Week as a part of the DMJX Student Exhibition.
For the past 11 years, Yasser has been guiding cars into parking spots somewhere in Giza. In this photo story, Mariam Atallah describes the lives of the “runners” in Cairo. “The Runners of Cairo” is exhibited at the Cairo Photo Week as a part of the DEDI-funded DMJX Student Exhibition.
Want to read more?
Interview with Anas Kamal, one of the photographers: Tell it as it is
DMJX workshop with Søren Pagter: The language of Photojournalism
DMJX workshop with Gitte Luk: Adding the text
DMJX workshop with Mads Greve: Catching a feeling
Read more about the DMJX Photo Exhibition HERE
The project was managed by DEDI’s Project Officer, Marwa Seoudi.
