The basis of these pictures is a very simple animation technique that I discovered in 2012, the so called cinemagraph — “An image that contains within itself a living moment that allows a glimpse of time to be experienced and preserved endlessly.” This term was originally coined by visual graphics artist Kevin Burg, who experimented with the .gif format in this style in 2009. But it wasn’t until he partnered with photographer Jamie Beck to cover New York Fashion Week that cinemagraphs were born. From the beginning I was completely fascinated by this hybrid form of image that is between a still and moving picture. It is motivated by the simple desire to capture life in its essence and to freeze the living moment. The still picture is always related to the past, because as soon as the image is captured, the moment is gone, whereas the moving picture gives the beholder a feeling of presence, and the loop reproduces the living moment for eternity. When I show these photos, some people are triggered by the movement, and switch as soon as they discover it to the next picture, as if it is a kind of “spot the mouse” game. Each photo utilizes very slight movements that only show a piece of the story. The movement in each photo adds a feeling of temporality, but the compositing and composition is just as important. In this city, all these different diverse experiences are happening together in close proximity. A guy overloaded with heavy bags, and a guy who just relaxed and is leaning against a microbus; three guys hitting on a girl coming home from school and a very thirsty man drinking water from a container on the street. All these moments, gazes and little interactions; every protagonist within the picture has his or her own story. I composite several photos together because I want to make the social actions and interactions within the confined space of the individual picture denser. I take as my prototype the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a Netherlandish Renaissance painter, especially his painting “Netherlandish Proverbs” from 1559, where many different actions occur at once. Working with a camera in the streets of Cairo always attracts attention at first. People come up to share their views on politics and want their opinions heard. They sometimes leave disappointed that I am filming but not conducting interviews. My working process is pretty slow. I usually spend lots of time at each location, so people loose interest and don’t care anymore what I’m doing. Sometimes I even talk to my assistant while the camera is recording. Nevertheless, I always ask permission from the main protagonists within my frame, because I think it is important that they are ok with me taking their pictures. I’m trying to be honest with people and represent the situation as it is. For me this is very important in the production process, where I choose the moment that will be looped endlessly. I avoid movements that make people look like silly clowns. It’s very important to me that they keep their dignity. Most of the looping movements represent working processes, gestures of communication and waiting postures. I am fascinated by waiting postures ever since I read the absurdist play, “Waiting for Godot,” by Samuel Beckett. In public places in Cairo you find many people standing or sitting, hanging out and just spending time. Maybe they are waiting for something, maybe they wait for nothing. Time just passes and things happen in the in-between. When filming, I’m not seeing the full scene, but the limitations of the camera frame helps me to focus on what is happening within. Afterwards, when I review my material and arrange the people and interactions within the frame, I try to re-create a fuller picture of the complexity of society. When we walk in the streets we have our social blinkers on. Usually we have to go to places and are alone with our thoughts, plans and memories. I try to focus on these moments, where an action or interaction happens, even if it’s just a certain gaze at something, like a boy and a cat. Street cats are rewarding protagonists, because they are small in size and make the picture more complex. The process of creating the composition and experimenting with different situation, interactions, people and moving elements within a frame usually goes through many versions and sometimes it takes me up to six hours to perfect the image. It has to involve the viewer, and trigger memory, fantasy and thought. The animation technique of cinemagraphs is pretty simple, but to create a picture that is worth looking at after you have discovered the moving element needs lots of work and effort. “Staging the City – Cairo Cinemagraphs” will be presented at the exhibition of CAIROTRONICA Electronic and New Media Arts Symposium 3rd of May till 10th of May 2016, Palace of Arts, Zamalek, Cairo.

I ask permission from the main people who are in the frame, for example the man repairing the Tuk Tuk and the seller. I set up the camera and often step away and talk with my assistant, so that people don’t feel observed. Or I communicate with the people in the frame with my eyes to make sure it is acceptable.

This picture is a lot about gazes: the young men looking at the girl, the guy drinking and staring into the distance, and the guy looking at me. That there is a person looking at me, the photographer, is very important, because his gaze opens up the space away from what is in the frame, to the things that are outside, including my existence and later the spectator.

Everyone is coming or going somewhere and then there is this one guy just standing and watching. He appears to be alone, maybe waiting for something, maybe waiting for nothing. He acknowledges our similar experiences of a mental existence beside the physical existence.

There are three to five, six, seven interactions happing within the picture and than there is the guy carefully cleaning his microbus. The microbus is pretty old and most probably made out of different pieces of other buses. It will get dusty again as soon as he hits the road. This is why I was so amazed by watching this careful cleaning process, as well as other extracts of the working process that seem to be never ending.

Different gestures of friendship, the two boys and the two girls in-between an old man passing by, a little boy running some place, the gas man with his donkey and the fresh bread delivery.

In this picture there are six different gestures and people passing by. I love the old woman and I can guess what she is saying. In my future project, I will try to capture gestures, which are a very particular language in Egypt.

This is the only picture I have named so far, it is called “The Shy Rooster,” because the only participant who really wanted to look away was the rooster and I thought this was hilarious.

Sometimes the perfect picture is the imperfect one. In this case, the cat’s head wasn’t supposed to move, but I wasn’t able to isolate it from the moving background. Sometimes I leave the mistakes in pictures and accept them as part of life and as part of the image.

As you can see, this is just one store down from the previous photo. My original plan was to make a street of montages that could be shown beside each other with some space in between for the mind to fill.

This movement is very subtle, and in some ways contradicts the process of holding and disassembling a major piece of the car.

This picture is more about my presence as the photographer and includes the audience, who are outside the frame like me. The boy is acting and making fun with me in front of the camera, and the men with the shisha are watching us, so there are four different angles of observation within this picture, and the boy’s interaction with me opens up a new space. It takes down the so called “fourth wall” that separates the audience from the action of a theatrical performance, traditionally conceived of as an imaginary wall completing the enclosure of the stage and the city — for me the streets of Cairo.

Additionally, many times in my pictures there is a gaze, where someone else is observing the moment with me, someone else is noticing the moment and recording it also.