Ahmed Kamel

Halfway there: project proposal Noord. July, 2010.

Family portraits: Family members in the context and privacy of their own homes. They choose their own way to gather in their living room, and present themselves to the outside world.

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Ahmed Kamel, Noord Hq. - Ahmed Kamel in Amsterdam. July 2010. Picture by Lars Wannop. Lars Wannop

With:

Family portraits

I have been worked on “Family Portrait” photography project since 2004, in major cities like Cairo and Berlin, Istanbul, and now Amsterdam Noord.

“Family members in the context and privacy of their own homes have chosen their own way to gather in their living room and present themselves to the outside world.” 

Domestic and social structures have had quite an big impact on my artwork. I have portrayed different social features visually.
The home, its interiors and its inhabitants are loaded with visual fragments of personal histories, tastes and aspirations. In other words, home is a space where people might express themselves freely, especially in big cities. Nevertheless, the preconceived ideas of the self-image reinforce an idealized notion of social identity. This creates a mixture between what is commonly “known” and what is purely individual. All these things provide clues about its residents and their lives as a marker of their social and cultural background. The different ways in which these spaces are designed and their people are dressed, symbolize the taste and habits of a specific social class and represent the image they claim.