Pictures around Egypt by Mohamed Hakem

November 3, 2014 COlor, essay, Guest Post, Landscape, memories, Photo Trips, Reportage, Street Photography, Travel 66

Pictures around Egypt

by Mohamed Hakem – his website is HERE

Hello Steve, I am a young egyptian photographer who has passion for the art since I was a kid. Photography is my hobby, interest, love and passion. The most thing I liked about this site is that it has a different vision; everyone is seeking to be a pro, But the Idea here is different. Here we don’t pixel peep, we don’t speak technical terms in the form of charts, we only talk about passion. The term Passionate photographer is exactly what attracted me this website. I don’t want to be a Pro or a commercial photographer, I want to be passionate about what I shoot.

Living in a country like Egypt I had to overcome a lot of difficulties to pursue my passion. Acquiring gear is the first as you have to pay double or triple sometimes quadruple what anybody else pay and wait a lot to get what you want to imagine selling or upgrading its a real pain. I reached a point where I had to start thinking about making money out of it but I totally failed. In Egypt weddings are the only way to make money and that’s not me. I was more of a nature/culture lover.

Secondly In Egypt there is nothing that people know as a landscape or a nature photographer. Here photographer is the kodak guy who tells you smile! To print and sell. So If I ever decided to give my full-time and seek my passion I end up jobless.

I love my country and I want to show the world its beauty, Speaking of culture, Egypt has an unparalleled culture and nature. Egypt should be the touristic capital of the world. Egypt is safe and has the best location, weather, monuments (more than the whole world combined) crystal clear water, magical deserts and safaris, Culture(Ancient Egyptian – Greek – Roman – Islamic – coptic – jewish – pre historic!), best food and everything you’ll ever think of. So I decided to throw away all the money-making thoughts and I stopped nagging about the prices, and I decided seek my passion, travelled around Egypt to to infamous places to try to show the world the beauty that few knows. I built a website to show the photos with nothing in my mind except my passion.

The below photos is the combination of pictures from around Egypt In the White desert, Wadi el Rayan Desert, some Wild life And Cairo

An Angry leopard in africa Safari park – Alexandria Egypt

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A lovely camp under the milky way in the white desert

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A lovely merchant in Kham El Khalili

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This is not the surface of the moon, this the white desert at night! Yes the ground is white and it really is that glowing at night

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A kind man waiting for the prayer

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The king of the desert in Wadi el Rayan

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The Egyptian Owl

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El Max in Alexandria, a simple fishermen’s home

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Moez street in Cairo

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Ibn Qowaloon mosque in old Cairo

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The Fayoum desert – a desert Made for camping!

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Mohamed Hakem Hussein

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66 Comments

  2. Thanks for sharing, visited your website, some nice picture there also. liked your learning tips on “How to shoot milky way”.
    Thanks again

  3. Mohamed, I love this website for the same reasons you do, but what you have shared with us is very powerful, as are your reasons for being a photographer. Beautiful photos, and they all capture a raw beauty that I have personally never seen from Egypt. Well done. My favorite photo is the desert sand at night.

  8. Leopard one of the most stunning big cat photos.

    Camp under the milky way & surface of moon magical.

  10. You can see your passion in your work! Beautiful photos and a variety of subjects. Thank you for sharing and continue enjoying you photographic journey.

  12. Wonderful stuff, Mohamed! I have been to Egypt only once: in late 1992. It was only for three days, but I loved it. There is a certain magic about Cairo that you cannot get anywhere else. So I can understand very well how you can love your country. 🙂

    I think my favourite photo is the one of the man in the desert, with the sun behind him.

    Have you considered submitting some of your photos to a stock agency, specializing in nature and tourism? Some of those photos are not easy to take! Of course, there is not a lot of money in stock, but it is better to have $1 extra per day than nothing!

    BTW, when you wrote “infamous”, did you mean “famous”? 😉

    • Hello Karim,
      Yes I submit to shutterstock but its such a pain for approvals and license agreements as they need model releases for everybody and everyplace which is sometimes hard to get.

      I meant not famous but the lovely auto correct always do its job 🙂

      what I really meant is that I didn’t photograph the Pyramids,temples, the tons of famous scenaries in Egypt. I try to go were few knows, for instance the white desert for is only well known among camp lovers, few knows that is one of the most important sites in the world. the white deser is 80 Million years old untouched area. it really is white that at night you see very clear as if you are on the surface of the moon. you will think that you are dreaming!,

  13. Very nice photos
    You have a beautiful country no doubt, and i’d love to see it some day
    Danny
    Israel

  14. Thanks so much for sharing. You now have an audience here. You proved once again that it’s the talent of the photographer that matters, not the equipment. However, we all still like to know what camera and lenses are being used. For example, can we assume that you didn’t use a wide angle lens for the leopard shot or else you would have lost one of your hands? If not, then what lens did you use. Same for the night desert shots that are so well done. And you succeeded in getting me to want to visit Egypt. Needless to say, many of us watch what’s going on in Egypt very closely in the news we get here. May peace and prosperity come quickly, and a great future for the youth of your country.

  20. That squinting OWL is an INCREDIBLE looking! …I’ve never seen the Egyptian variety before.

    Great work all round Mohamed, keep it up!

  23. All your images are great. Your signature has great typography, but it gets in the way with your landscape. Might have to reduce it…50% to 70%. But, it’s up to you, just a suggestion. Thanks for the lovely photos. Keep shooting!

  25. Mohamed, I really like your fotographs! A nice compilation from landscape, portrait, architecture, wildlife and urban shots with fantastic colours. The white desert really shines!

    • Hello william, I am a Nikon Shooter but i’ve been into the mirrorless world for more than a year and a half. I’m shifting towards Fuji to the extend that I no longer use my Nikon but does not have the courage to sell them.
      Cameras: Nikon D800,Fuji X-t1,Fuji X100
      Lenses: Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G,14-24mm f/2.8G, 85mm 1.4G, 200mm f/4 manual focus
      Fujinion 18mm f/2, 23mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4,Samyung 8mm Fish Eye

  36. I really enjoyed viewing your photographs with a variety of subjects, colorful, and well composed.

  37. Stunning images… very well done. I’ve wanted to travel to Egypt for a very long time, but now you’re photos make me want to go just that much more…

  39. Thank you guys so much! That means a lot to me!!
    For those interested I am a Nikon shooter who is shifting towards Fuji, its been a year now That I only shoot with the fuji x100 and XT-1

    My gear is a Nikon D800, 14-24 ,24-70 2.8, 85 1.8
    Fuji X100, Xt-1,18mm,23mm,35mm and 8mm fisheye

  41. your passion and your talent are inspiring. you have a great eye.

    please, share with us what equipment you use, i’m sure we are all curious.

  42. Nice pictures. The camping pictures and the leopard picture (nailed the shallow DOF) are remarkable!

  44. I’ve been in Egipt twice on vacations so I didnt see all those beautes but I can imagine how hard you must push to get all your photo gear and stay on surface… this can be really called a passion. Good luck mate

  45. Wonderful images! Thank you! Can you tell us more about each picture (camera, lenses, etc)?

    • Thank you Robert, I replied with the Gear downwards but here is a copy and past :

      I am a Nikon Shooter but i’ve been into the mirrorless world for more than a year and a half. I’m shifting towards Fuji to the extend that I no longer use my Nikon but does not have the courage to sell them.
      Cameras: Nikon D800,Fuji X-t1,Fuji X100
      Lenses: Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G,14-24mm f/2.8G, 85mm 1.4G, 200mm f/4 manual focus
      Fujinion 18mm f/2, 23mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4,Samyung 8mm Fish Eye

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