In a resounding declaration of commitment to unfettered expression and the elevation of unseen narratives, the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), alongside the Prince Claus Fund and the Magnum Foundation, proudly unveil the 10th cohort of visionary photographers from the region chosen for mentorship through the Arab Documentary Photography Program (ADPP). This milestone year also heralds the inauguration of the ADPP Alumni Fellowship program, a collaborative endeavor with For Freedoms, aimed at providing sustained support to esteemed ADPP alumni.
At its core, the ADPP stands as a beacon of artistic empowerment, dedicated to fostering the growth of creative documentary photography within the Middle East and North Africa. As the program enters its milestone tenth year, it remains steadfast in its mission to amplify voices and challenge conventions. Meanwhile, the ADPP Alumni Fellowship, a pioneering initiative, extends a guiding hand to former participants seeking further mentorship and consultancy, ensuring their continued evolution as trailblazers in the field.
Two readers’ committees were assigned to screen the applications received. The committees gathered previous ADPP jurors Hrair Sarkissian (Syria) and Dalia Khamissy (Lebanon), previous ADPP grantee Sara Sallam (Egypt), and previous Magnum Fellow Rola Khayyat (Lebanon). The applications that passed this first evaluation were sent to an independent jury committee comprised of Egyptian photojournalist and documentary photographer Nariman El-Mofty, Lebanese cultural practitioner Heba Hage-Felder, and British cultural producer Jessica Murray who, at the close of their deliberations, issued the following statement:
“‘As you fight your wars, think about others,’ said poet Mahmoud Darwish. As we grieve and condemn the genocide of Palestinians, the ethnic cleansing in Sudan, and the lingering tragedies in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Libya, and Lebanon and so many suffering communities across the Arab world, it is our collective narratives that remind us of what is worth living for. The 10th cycle of ADPP coincides with the first Fellowship for the alumni community and is meant to activate on-going work. There are beautiful propositions for collaborations, and innovative ways of including the community of documentary photographers, as well as experimenting with diverse outputs. What is particularly compelling is how artists evolve with topics they hold close to their heart.
“It is painful to select final candidates given the incredible array of projects that are well-rounded in addition to first-time projects with huge potential. We thank all applicants for sharing a part of themselves, their trials and passions and encourage their quest to keep on disclosing through visual storytelling what inflicts our region and our dispersed selves.”
The selected photographers for the mentorship track hail from Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, and Yemen. These emerging photographers’ projects address conflicts and war times, social and collective memory, loss and grief, as well as exile and migration. Get to know them below.
‘Southern Birds’ by Nader Bahsoun, Lebanon
Historically marked by wars and turmoil, southern Lebanon embodies resistance and concealed failures. Revisiting his family’s photographic archive and documentation of the lives of those who left, Bahsoun navigates the tension between the notions of freedom and struggle and the feeling of exile within one’s own country.
‘What Do Fathers Leave Behind?’ by Sadiq Al-Harasi, Yemen
What Do Fathers Leave Behind? is a visual documentation of the emotional vestiges in our lives of loss. In using his lens to explore his personal experiences, Al-Harasi invites viewers to reflect on the remnants of paternal heritage in their own lives and strengthen connections that extend beyond the boundaries of departure.
‘Crawling on Dust’ by Ali Zaraay, Egypt
The documentary project focused on how urban expansion in the Nile Delta has blocked the nomadic bedouin family of Haj Hani from moving tells the story of Hani’s family and his lineage. The project attempts to look at the Egyptian nomadic bedouin’s social and spatial memory, through their alternative narratives of the “road” and “home,” their relationships to the land and animals, and their modes of resisting marginalization pedicated on imagining themselves in other realities.
‘Foresight’ by Mera Elnaal, Libya
Amera Elnaal began documenting the lives of her blind mother and father more than two-years-ago. She narrates the hardships they faced, starting with their childhood, illness, orphanhood, and lives in cities that were unable to accommodate their needs and ending with their decision to begin life together despite the challenges such a decision posed. Elnaal tells the story of Libya’s blind population through the stories of her own parents, herself and her four siblings, shedding light on how disabled people are unfairly treated.
‘Do not Forget the Colors’ by Hana Gamal, Egypt
Do Not Forget the Colors explores notions of grief, change, and loss born out of a desire to heal and restore a lost sense of belonging to the city Hana calls home. The project is an attempt to find solace and make sense of the photographer’s grief in the world in which she lives.
‘Tadween’ by Mosab Abushama, Sudan
A documentation of life in war, Abushama probes how people adapt and coexist amid conflict and examines how war has affected their way of life.
‘In Flow with Water’ by Yaqeen Ahmad Saleh Yamani, Palestine
While land is often thought of as a key part of Palestinian resistance, water is also a key part of the struggle for freedom. In Flow with Water is a documentary photography project exploring people’s relationship to the water, specifically in Jericho. Yamami uses photography and text works to document how this relationship is shifting and being challenged within the wider impacts of occupation and gentrification.
