At college I studied computer science, not photography, but I tried to take some pictures when I had any spare time. I remember going out with my film camera and trying to capture a picture of pollution in Cairo by taking images of the smoke emitted by cars when they travelled over speed bumps. I finished two films without getting a satisfying picture, so I decided to learn photography.
I took some courses in photography while teaching courses myself. The photography classes taught me more technical skills and showed me how to take the pictures I wanted to take.
For my first assignment I was asked to take pictures for a local newspaper of the housing minister. Now he is imprisoned, as he was one of the ministers of the former regime who was accused of corruption.
The story that left the biggest mark on me was the 2011 Egyptian revolution, because it was the story of my own country.
During the revolution I was really amazed by what was happening in Cairo and by the protesters’ chants against the regime. I hadn’t expected it at all. At first I was so amazed that I didn’t take that many pictures, but later I started to shoot a lot of images. It was a good lesson for me to isolate my feelings and astonishment from my assignments.
I really admire Reuters Photographer Goran Tomasevic, who was my boss for two years. I respect him personally and I think that he is one of the best photographers at covering news and wars - he has the spirit to take risks.
