And it really is. We see many trends that occur only during Ramadan; no matter how one looks at it, it’s full of kindness and nobility.
You see streets dress up with decorations for an entire month. People change due to fasting; Ramadan can be/feel different depending on where you live in the world as every country celebrates this holy month of Ramadan their way; the cultures and traditions vary from one place to another, but they all agree on one thing, that it is indeed Kareem.
Ramadan is the time of the year when day and night couldn’t have more contrast.
Daytime in Ramadan is usually about quieter streets and shorter work hours. You see people everywhere reading the Quran or going to pray, and then gradually it gets busy and loud; it's 2 hours before Iftar, it dawns on people that it’s almost over, they arerunning out of time to arrive somewhere or to prepare the Iftar food, short meaningless fights happen at homes and in the streets, and then all of a sudden it happens…
It’s the prayer calling for Maghrib!
It all goes very quiet; the streets are almost empty, and it’s all so serene and beautiful for about 15 minutes. Then, it’s nighttime!
Tarawih is an essential part of Ramadan, People go to mosques and some of them make an event of it, going to the oldest mosque, the biggest mosque or, the mosque with a sheikh who has a great voice, or even a mosque that finishes quickly.
I can talk about Ramadan till next Ramadan, but I think it is best to see it from a perspective that adds life to words, which is Photography.
As it’s becoming my favorite thing to do, meeting with photographers and bringing their side of the story. So, for this month, I met with a photographer who is also a nomad, partially archeologist, and a tour guide, among many other job titles... Sameh Mohamed.
Despite his young age, Sameh has done a lot and gained a very decent experience in photography in multiple genres varying from street photography to ancient monuments.
Let’s get into it. Ramadan for photographers, is a golden chance to capture wonderful moments and amazing vibes that show the magic of Ramadan. “Walking in Egypt is like a movie scene.”
We got some insights on where to go in Ramadan for Iftar or Suhoor.
Each spot in Cairo has a totally different yet amazing vibe, such as downtown (the real one, not the one in tagamo3), Khan El Khalili, and Kurba.
For a photographer in such a themed month, almost everywhere you go is going to be crowded and loud, and this is exactly where the fun is. Among the chaos, there are always these moment that makes the whole day much easier and, in the end, worth it. One of those moments was when Sameh was working in the Matareya event (which needs a blog of its own)
At some point they close the street’s entrances and exits, and Sameh wanted to take this shot from a certain spot, but it was out of the closed zone, so he was talking to the guy by the barricade to let him go out, but the guy wouldn’t budge, so Sameh was telling him that the family living in that apartment invited him to shoot from their balcony, the guy then looked at the balcony only to realize this was his own house and his mom or sister was giving him the okay, and that smooth Sameh was able to go and get the shot he wanted and became good buddies with that guy as well.
So Ramadan is the month where good prevails and doors open with blessings everywhere. We’ll talk more about Ramadan in our upcoming blogs, so stay tuned.