RE-DISCOVERING HOME
Re-Discovering Home is an ongoing photographic and sound-based exploration of life along the Nile River, Egypt’s enduring source of sustenance, memory, and identity.
After thirteen years away, I returned to Egypt not to revisit its monuments, but to see it as it lives today, through the hands, land, and rhythms of the people who depend on the river. Over five weeks, I travelled through farmland communities, fishing villages, and cities, documenting stories that reveal the Nile not as a symbol of the past, but as a living force shaping everyday life.
The project traces threads of agriculture, craftsmanship, and memory: cotton and jasmine harvests, boat-making in Lake Burullus, the pulse of Aswan and Cairo, and the quiet endurance of my grandmother’s home, unchanged since her marriage. Through photography, recorded sound, and conversation, I aim to create a portrait of Egypt that is both contemporary and deeply rooted, one that honors the beauty and complexity of rural and working life.
As a member of the Arab diaspora now living in Canada, Re-Discovering Home is also a way of reframing how Egypt and the Arab world are seen. Too often our stories are filtered through nostalgia or conflict. This work seeks to shift that lens, to highlight resilience, tenderness, and creativity in the everyday, and to preserve living stories before they fade.
The project will unfold over several years offering layered encounters with Egypt’s landscape, sound, and people. More than documentation, Re-Discovering Home is an act of return, a personal and collective reflection on belonging, heritage, and the lifeblood that continues to flow through Egypt’s heart.
