12 things photographers should heed to, according to Cairo Photo Week photographers

CAIRO – 31 March 2021: In mid-March, Photopia held the largest photo festival in the MENA region. Cairo Photo Week hosted dozens of workshops and exhibitions, connecting many photographers in the region. Egypt Today interviewed a group of prominent American photographers that the U.S. embassy in Cairo invited to the event and here are some of their best advice.

1 – Learn the business side of the creative arts so you manage and control your business and money.

2 – If you’ll study, study business, not photography. You can learn photography by observing.

3 – Experiment with a 50ml fixed lens; it is a good, cheap learning tool to start with constraint, as artists work well when they solve problems.

4 – Travel as much as possible and network with as many people as possible to see professionals do things in different regions and markets so you incorporate them into your work.

5 – Incorporate all elements in one picture so a viewer would know how it would feel like to be in that place. It’s a nice challenge.

6 – Diversify your work to cope with economic challenges.

7 – Be curious, interested and listen to people’s stories.

8 – Be willing to looks outside of yourself.

9 – Remember you’re a witness of your time. One day, it will be history.

10 – When a little local story is tied to a universal idea, magic happens.

11- When everything looks mundane, play with your camera and take pictures from totally new angles and perspectives.

12 – Remember that there are many layers of culture in Egypt where you can be inspired by the clothes, the food, the landscape, the customs, etc.

Don’t forget to read out interview with Maggie Steber, documentary photographer and one of National Geographic Magazine’s 2013 Women of Vision; Shamayim Shacaro, fashion and beauty photographer; and Felix Kunze, portrait expert; and Shahidul Alam, Bangladeshi photojournalist and Time Magazine Person of the Year 2018: http://egypttoday.com/Article/4/100341/Cairo-Photo-Week-Photographers-give-voice-and-find-inspiration-in