Photography is the Life for Me

Egyptian photographer, Mustafa Shorbaji, lives in one of the oldest cities in North Africa. Having stood on the bank of the Nile for over 1,000 years, Old Cairo is steeped in ancient history. Every year, tourists flock to this UNESCO World Heritage Site to bask in the glory of Old Cairo’s stone lined streets and golden-yellow buildings, and of course, to see the magnificent Egyptian Pyramids, face-to-face. Such a rich history no doubt lends to the character of Cairo, and particularly Old Cairo, but it isn’t what Mustafa loves about his hometown. His attachment to the city is rooted in the vivacity of the region – the hustle and bustle, the busy markets, and most importantly the people who he meets every day in the street.

You could say it’s an inherited love. Mustafa remembers fondly his father’s own passion for photography as he was growing up. “My father loved to photograph street life and trips we took, and then develop the film himself. As I grew up, I found myself surrounded by a multitude of memories captured in photographs.”

But photography is more than just a family tradition for Mustafa. When I asked what photography means for him personally, he replied, “To me, photography means truth, without any lies or falsification. It is the truth about human beings – their feelings, their sadness and happiness, and all of their emotion-filled moments. I get great pleasure as a photographer from diving into emotion and conveying it honestly.”

And Mustafa’s work is just how he describes it – honest. His subjects are never shrouded in mystery or obscured. They are sharp and in focus, ready to engage with the viewer. Each scene is full of movement and interaction. Best of all, Mustafa’s snippets of real people tend to capture all things beautiful about everyday life.

It’s not always easy though, Mustafa admits that street photography in Egypt comes with its own set of challenges.

Patiently Breaking Down Barriers

One of the biggest obstacles for a street photographer in Egypt is convincing people to be photographed, earning their trust. Most people are afraid of the camera, afraid of how their photo might be used. It was a huge challenge in the beginning, but one Mustafa was able to overcome with patience and perseverance.

These days, there are three main ways Mustafa breaks down barriers that might otherwise make his intimate portraits impossible:

1. He keeps a family mindset. “I always consider the people I photograph to be members of my own family,” he says. Given how his subjects feel, Mustafa doesn’t take out his camera right away, and he doesn’t go around taking portraits without permission. He is always kind, considerate, and friendly as he gets to know his subjects, and this approach puts them at ease around him and his camera.
2. He spends time with his subjects. Mustafa told me he can spend days breaking the ice with a potential subject. He sits with them, learns from them, and calmly explains the importance of his photography when the subject comes up. Only when the person starts to view Mustafa as their friend, when he’s earned their trust, and when they’ve overcome their fear of the camera, does he begin to photograph them.
3. He prints portraits for his subjects. Printing pictures and gifting them to his subjects represents a great joy for his new friends, Mustafa says. It makes them appreciate what he does and keeps them friendly and open to future portraits.

The time, love, and patience Mustafa puts into each of his portraits is palpable. There is an openness about his subjects, a willingness to have their story told in a photo, that is remarkable considering the fear they’ve had to overcome.

Mustafa says that kind of patience is necessary even before you head out to the streets and meet your next subject. He believes that any beginner needs to invest some serious time into learning photography properly, understanding new and old technology through practice, and figuring out what kind of equipment they’ll need. Once you know what equipment is the best fit for your subjects and their environment, you can focus fully on getting to know your gear. This too is a time consuming step, but a necessary one if you want to make powerful photos.

Hard Earned Stories are the Best Stories

Over the years, Mustafa has found that one of his favorite places to photography are the heritage neighborhoods in Cairo with their ancient and traditional customs, religions, and folklore celebrations. He also loves exploring rural villages in Egypt, capturing the simplicity of life that can be found there and the originality of the people. This has led to the development of several unique projects.

Mustafa has spent time documenting handicrafts that have almost disappeared in Egypt, and the lives of minority groups and their longstanding traditions. He’s photographed fishermen in Rosetta, desert Bedouins, and the guards of the Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt, just to mention a few subjects of interest. Each project has required patience and endurance on Mustafa’s part. Long journeys using difficult means of transport, sometimes at a high cost, are usually par for the course. Plus, Mustafa uses the same techniques to earn his subjects’ trust that he does in his own neighborhood. That usually means staying with his subjects for extended periods, sometimes in harsh conditions. Mustafa believes these kinds of sacrifices are necessary if you want to get distinctive images. A serious photographic project requires self-sacrifice and can take many years to complete.

I couldn’t help but wonder what made those kinds of sacrifices worth it to Mustafa. He’s been doing street photography for the past 13 years, shooting mainly for personal pleasure. Mustafa shares his photos on Instagram and from time-to-time his work is displayed at different exhibitions and photography festivals, such as the Beirut Photography Festival and the Sharjah Exposure Festival. Not surprisingly, he’s won the European Union Delegation competition twice. But it was clear to me that fame and fortune, or even just gaining recognition, was never the motivation behind Mustafa’s photographic exploits.

Mustafa summed it up this way, “I like to choose places that are full of stories. Often, I focus on humanitarian issues. Seeking out that kind of image has taught me patience, focus, endurance, the value of hard, continuous work, and how to travel to hard-to-reach places.

“Most importantly, I always learn so much from the people I photograph as they share their life experiences with me. To transmit those experiences in a photograph brings me great pleasure. Photography is the life for me.”