By Youssef Aziz
For Photopia’s latest exhibit, photographers put down their DSLR cameras and shelved the Photoshop, capturing Egypt with just their mobile phones.
The exhibit, on display in Heliopolis until 26 July, features more than 129 photos centring on the theme “Only in Egypt”. The photos range from the mundane to the bizarre. Photos featured the Nile, groups of people eating in the street and dinnerware. In one photo, a donkey is shown wearing a pair of pants.
Photopia selected the photos from more than 1,000 submitted by more than 450 contestants. The top three photographers won prizes from Nokia valuing EGP 15,000.
Photographer Ramy Adel won the grand prize with a photo of a lady standing in a bus looking from the window. Mohamed Ezz took second. Aly Roshdy earned third prize with a photograph of a donkey wearing pants.
“I was taking the bus from Medan El Hegaz when I noticed all these people sitting there not looking at each other at all with absolutely no facial expressions,” Adel said. “So I acted as if I was checking Whatsapp and I took a quick photo.”
Professional photojournalists Ahmed Hayman, Aly Hazzaa and Roger Amin judged the competition based on whether the photos followed the theme (photos taken outside of Egypt were eliminated), the idea of the photograph and the brightness.
“It was a very tough challenge to choose the finalists,” he said. “We went through many conflicts to come up with the winners.”
Photopia is a photographer’s hub founded in 2012 by photography enthusiasts Marwa Abo Leila and Karim El Khadem. The group aims to spread the art of photography among young generations, support professional photographers, and enhance the skills of emerging talents by providing workshops and a space for public exhibitions.
The photographers’ club also arranges photography trips and competitions.
“Photography is a passion,” said Mohamed Rafik, Photopia’s business coordinator. “We do not care about the money. We just want to encourage people to take pictures.”
“Only in Egypt” will be in display at Photopia’s headquarters, 15 Somal Street, Korba, Heliopolis, Cairo, until 26 July.
