zeyadgohary.com

Fine Art Photography student at the ICP GS 2016. This blog is my diary, home to thoughts, inspirations, ideas and current musings. It is public because ideas are meant to be shared...

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There truly is no place like home. I can’t think of anything that I miss as much as this place (at Sharm El Naga Resort) https://www.instagram.com/p/BoehxLBgcRy/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=uc75m8li9sl8

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Water. Finally a project in progress - @jeanmarieca I was going through my notes and re-read your feedback. I’m glad I did. Truly miss your classes and our conversations

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No words.

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Another festival in the bag! THANK YOU @waslamusic 🙌🙌 Beautiful day, beautiful people and most importantly beautiful music! Thank you to all the bands for putting on such an amazing show! @cairokee @majaz_music @taniasaleh @hayajanband @alaawardi @gnawadiffusion (at Dubai Design District)

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Plato's The Allegory of the Cave + Solnit's River of Shadows

When read together, Plato's allegory, for me, begins to make more sense, or at least finds grounding in historical events. In the allegory, Socrates slowly explains the very abstract concept of true enlightenment. His very literal prisoners escape from the ties of one level of consciousness into another superior level. Once enlightened with the knowledge and experience of life and light beyond the shadows of the cave, he explains the challenges they will face the when confronting those who have not been so privileged. The River of Shadows tells a history similar in that it captures the paradigm shift societies lived through resulting from the technological advancements that allowed them to manipulate their perspective of time.

In terms of paradigm shift and enlightenment, I took this photo of a painting at a gallery in Chelsea that has proved to be just that, a 'eureka' moment. It is a painting of forms rather than a subject, and as a result i find myself imagining and thinking rather than simply observing. I have never considered myself to be an abstract or fine art photographer, yet my most powerful images have always been those which are not so focused on the context of what it is am shooting, but rather a feeling conveyed in the image.

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Adding elements to create shadows and other distractions to develop narrative with the Steak in the composition

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Gradients, let's start this project off! (at Brooklyn Museum)

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@rogerwaters , thank you. That was everything I'd ever hoped for. Go see your idols perform. Some pigs really do fly! #ZGinNYC #dreamcometrue #heplayeddogs!!!!!!! (at Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center)

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The political atmosphere continued to grow into more of a farce as the months and years rolled on. Students and activists continued to be thrown in military jails and not heard of for weeks, or worse. NGOs, Human Rights organisations and lawyers became synonymous with spies, traitors and "foreign influence" and ignorance blossomed with a vengeance. Looking back, it's no surprise that such a powerful underground party scene developed as respite from the lunacy. And as the situation grew more stressful by day, the parties grew crazier by night (and day). Recounting the stories feels like they must be the stuff of legends. The period under military enforced curfew saw the underground party scene explode. One such story is that of the entire Fairmont hotel being turned into a weekend rave; the elevators and hallways were not spared. House parties grew to rival clubs and this in fact lead to the birth of Nacelle; the company responsible for the House Sessions parties which took place almost religiously every week for four years on a golden floating replica of a Pharaonic temple on the Nile. Cairo has @tito and the @nacelle team to thank for those savoured moments of release amid the lunacy of every day life in Cairo. I was fortunate to be the resident photographer capturing the growth of that amazing part of Egypt's history, something so completely anti-political yet intrinsically tied to the story of the Egyptian revolution. My name is Zeyad Gohary (@zeyadg), a proud alumni of the Foundry workshop in Buenos Aires, Argentina 2011, an experience which paved the way to my current career as a photographer in New York. My work since then has been about exploring and understanding my relationship with my camera; the silent friend that tags along for the ride. My work is diaristic, and therefore a very personal view of my world, shaped and composed as a reflection of my current state, my thoughts and emotions. I believe a photograph is not a static rendition of an event. It is much more than that. It can be anything from a cue to a memory that unfolds like a movie reel in my mind, to a portal that leads my imagination into a personal reality. @photowings @zeyadg (at Nacelle)

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#Repost @foundryphoto with @repostapp ・・・ By now some of you will have noticed that I have not shared any images from the "revolution" of January 2011; something that has unfortunately been reduced to a child's tantrum - allowed to express its anger only to return to a state of calm and control by its figurative parents. I only wish our reality was more in keeping with this whimsical and familial analogy and not the real story which you are all familiar with; one of squashed hopes, death and a complete return to authoritarian military rule. The photos I took on January 28, 2011 were taken in a state of complete awe. As was the case for many others, I didn't care much for politics and did not believe anything would come of the protests. My partner at the time convinced me otherwise, and against my protective parents’ wishes, we and some friends joined one of the large marches heading to Tahrir. I have never experienced such strength and solidarity, it was humbling and deeply inspiring. We witnessed so much good that day that in my memory, it truly eclipsed all of the destruction. I don't feel that way anymore, and looking back makes me angry at the thought of what could have been. Growing up as an expat moving from country to country and from one international school to the next, being an Egyptian was never really something I thought about much; everyone has to be from somewhere, I just happen to have been given that ugly big green plastic handwritten passport. But that experience made me want to share that feeling of hope with others, a sense of nationalistic pride without the nationalism, if that's possible. But that hope is all gone now and I prefer to keep my memories as they are and not allow myself to taint them with my current thoughts. Instead I would much rather think of the real beauty I see in Egypt that cannot (let's hope) be tarnished by idiots in camo suits and crooked politicians. In the words of my friend Taimour, #thisisegypt -- My name is Zeyad Gohary (@zeyadg), a proud alumni of the Foundry workshop in Buenos Aires, Argentina 2011, an experience which paved the way to my current career as a photographer in New York @photowings @zeyadg (at Cairo Tower)

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Such an inspirational interview with @snapshotturtle yesterday. More to come from this amazing project #marigram @m_shika watch out, because you're next haha Lots of work happening in the kitchen with the amazing @kilit_ looking forward to sharing some of it with you #Repost @snapshotturtle ・・・ It was wonderful to meet up with fellow #marigram crew members yesterday and talk about the crazy whirlwind of work we managed to do last year and where we are headed next. There are exciting things to come for us this year, including a brief excerpt showing at the @dbwarehousedance May workshop and festival, plus a full showing at the end of the year with oh-so-dangerous @m_shika and new #crimepartners drawn into our world. Thanks, Francesco and Zeyad, for being awesome! #evertried #tidalpatterns #massmasses #collaboration #Repost @kilit_ with @repostapp ・・・ Had a great time yesterday joining a conversation about revolutions and tides, memories and hopes, with amazing @snapshotturtle and @zeyadg. __--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__ #Marigram #hyperspacedance @m_shika #dance #contemporaryart #newyork #brooklyn (at Prospect Lefferts Gardens)

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A friend asked me "why are all your pictures so dark?" The short answer; because colours come to life in darkness. #ZGinNYC #firstlight #icpschool (at Prospect Lefferts Gardens)

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Thoughts on my background II - Home

A year abroad studying, looking for inspiration, learning what makes me tic and figuring out why I see the things I do, in the way that I do, has come around full circle. Right where I began, at home.

I’ll be shooting this project while I’m here; I think it’s less about the details, although that’s what I think I’ll be showing, but about why these details matter. My mother’s purpose in doing things for the sake of doing them, expressing herself on her only canvas, her home, her family and friends and loved ones.

Not out of a love for luxury, or to feel surrounded by wealth, it’s because she loves to do, to make, and to show love for her home. As someone who, as many mothers do, has sacrificed her choice of a career for a family, this has become her life project, and she pays attention to every minute detail; every memory, treasure, souvenir and surface. Everything is tirelessly maintained and kept cleaner than I could explain. It now makes sense to me, it’s out of respect to the significance. If you are going to do something, put your whole heart into it.

 Textured walls, sparkling crystals, crowded table tops, velvet couch, tiny elephant incense holders, Yemeni swords, her beloved grandmother’s bedroom. Everything has a place, a meaning and a purpose, beauty is only part of the equation.

 If you want to understand my pictures, walk through my mother’s house.

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Backstage at McQueen AW01, taken from the June 2001 issue of Dazed & Confused

I’ve finally found it. Negative light. Alexander McQueen, channeling some serious Decarava Darkness, but in colour, and in fashion. RIP you twisted genius.

These are some of the most intriguing photos i know. They are an invitation to explore that fine line at the edge of darkness; where a slight change in perspective takes you somewhere completely different.

Thank you Frank.

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(Not so) silent operator