The Longing of the Stranger Whose Path Has Been Broken
Rehab Eldalil
FotoEvidence, Trobades & Premis Mediterranis Albert Camus
Arabic and English
Hardcover
182 pages
216 × 155 mm
2022
ISBN 9782494308022
This collaborative project, made with members of the Jebeliya community, reflects on what it means to be Bedouin in contemporary times. It focuses on the interconnectedness between people and land, which the photographer believes defines the notion of belonging. Bedouins have inhabited the Sinai peninsula for centuries and face stigma and discrimination in Egypt. They face discrimination in Egyptian society to this day due to their perceived role as collaborators during the Israeli occupation of the Sinai from 1967 to 1982, when the Bedouins who resisted the occupation remained on their land to protect it. This discrimination has resulted in Bedouins being barred from joining the army or police force and serving in government, and the profits from the Sinai’s lucrative tourism industry bypassing them.
As an Indigenous community, Bedouins have been perceived in the media as isolated from, and a threat to, modern society. Stories of Bedouin women, who were prohibited from being seen by men without consent up until the 1990s, were consistently taken out of context and their images were used without their permission. Challenging this stereotype in the project, portraits of women from the community, printed on fabric, were embroidered by the women themselves, contributing to and taking control of their own representation. While the female participants collaborated through embroidery, the men from the community contributed with handwritten poetry, resulting in a multimedia journey through the identity of the Bedouin community in South Sinai, Egypt.
The photographer is a Bedouin rights activist and has been an active member of the community for the past 15 years.
(source: https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo-contest/2022/Rehab-Eldalil/1)
About the Artist
Born (1989) and currently based in Cairo, Egypt, Rehab Eldalil is a documentary photographer and visual storyteller. Her work focuses on the broad theme of identity explored through participatory creative practices.
In 2011, as she was graduating with a photography BA, Rehab was also participating in the Jan25 Egyptian revolution, as a result, she co-authored a best selling photo book called The Road To Tahrir. Since then, Rehab has been working on assignments with NGOs such as Drosos Foundation and UNICEF and publications documenting social and cultural concerns in Egypt while developing her personal projects. During her time teaching photography for graduate and undergraduate levels at the American University in Cairo between 2013 and 2015, Rehab began her research on identity, collaborative lens based approaches and representation in visual storytelling. Reconnecting to her Bedouin ancestry, Rehab co-founded Catherine Exists; a volunteer-based community centre that empowers Bedouin communities in South Sinai and provides free medical and educational services.
Rehab has received her photography MA with distinction award from Falmouth University, UK 2020 (long distance). And she received a one year certificate in documentary photography from the International Center of Photography 2021 (long distance).
(source: https://www.rehabeldalil.com/about)
About the Publisher
Established in 2020 in Montpellier, France the FotoEvidence Association works at the intersection of human rights and photography through the FotoEvidence Book Award and the FotoEvidence W Award for a woman photographer. The organization aims to expand and support the work of FotoEvidence, a publishing house established in 2010, dedicated to documentary photography focused on human rights and social and ecological justice. Originally based in Brooklyn, New York, FotoEvidence now operates from the village of Marseillan in Herault, France.
fotoevidence.com
(source: https://fotoevidence.com/about)
