Laura El-Tantawy (born 1980) is a British-

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

photographer based in London and Cairo. She works as a freelance news photographer and on personal projects. El-Tantawy was born in England to Egyptian parents and moved to Egypt as an infant, growing up between there, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Her website says her photography is "inspired by questions on her identity - exploring social and environmental issues pertaining to her background." ''In the Shadow of the Pyramids'' (2015) came about through "going back to Egypt to discover her roots, she became caught up in the momentous events in Tahir Square during 2011, and stayed to photograph the whole event." ''In the Shadow of the Pyramids'', was shortlisted for the

Deutsche Börse Photography Prize Deutsch or Deutsche may refer to: *''Deutsch'' or ''(das) Deutsche'': the German language, in Germany and other places *''Deutsche'': Germans, as a weak masculine, feminine or plural demonym *Deutsch (word), originally referring to the Germanic ve ...

in 2015. In 2020 El-Tantawy was joint winner of the W. Eugene Smith fund Grant, for ''I'll Die for You''.

Life and work

El-Tantawy was born in Worcestershire, England, in 1980 to Egyptian parents and grew up between Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United States. She graduated from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in Athens, GA, in 2002 with dual degrees in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. Also in 2002, she began working as a newspaper photographer with the

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

and

Sarasota Herald-Tribune The ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'' is a daily newspaper, located in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1925 as the ''Sarasota Herald''. History The newspaper was owned by The New York Times Company from 1982 to 2012. It was then owned by Halifax Media ...

. In 2006, she became a freelance photographer so she could work on personal projects. She completed a research fellowship at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 2009, and gained an MA in art and media practice from the

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

, London, in 2011. In 2015 El-Tantawy self-published her first book, ''In the Shadow of the Pyramids.'' Partly supported by Burn magazine and a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

campaign, it is centered on the

Egyptian Revolution of 2011 The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

. ''

Creative Review ''Creative Review'' is a bimonthly print magazine and website. The magazine focuses on commercial creativity, covering design, advertising, photography, branding, digital products, film, and gaming. The magazine is published bimonthly in print and ...

'' described it as "close-up photographs of protestors and street scenes of fervent crowds in Cairo during the January revolution in Tahrir Square, are mixed in with local witness accounts, alongside old family photographs from her childhood growing up between Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the US. Shot between 2005-2014, the series is a heady combination of documentary photography, portraits, and more dynamic, abstract images, jarring with the retro, candid shapshots."

Gerry Badger Gerald David "Gerry" Badger (born 1946) is an English writer and curator of photography, and a photographer. In 2018 he received the J Dudley Johnston Award from the Royal Photographic Society. Life and career Badger was born in 1946 in Northam ...

, selecting the book for the Best Photobook prize at Fotobookfestival in Kassel (which it won), wrote "Her highly impressionistic style is in the best tradition of Japanese protest books, and captures he confusion of the event extremely well – where people where having picnics in the middle of the square while others were dying in the surrounding streets. At first glance, her brightly coloured, semi abstract images seem too ‘aesthetic’, but when you really get into and study the sequence, journeying from hope and exultation to near despair, the toughness of her vision becomes apparent, and the whole is brought together with excellent production values and a beautiful, yet not overinsistent design. Her "I'll Die for You" series deals with

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

among rural Indian farmers. El-Tantawy's website says her photography is "inspired by questions on her identity - exploring social and environmental issues pertaining to her background." She has also said her inspiration "primarily comes from music, poetry and impressionistic painters – my photographic influences tend to be poetic and painterly like, such as the work of Gueorgui Pinkhassov, Miguel Rio Branco and Saul Leiter."

Publications

Publications by El-Tantawy

*''In the Shadow of the Pyramids.'' Amsterdam: self-published, 2015. . 440 pages. Edition of 500 copies. *''The People.'' Self-published, 2015. . Edition of 1500 copies. **''The People Collector Edition.'' Self-published, 2015. Edition of 102 copies. *''Post-Script.'' Bristol, UK: RRB, 2016. . Edition of 750 copies. Photographs and text by El-Tantawy. Edited by Colin Pantall. Folding format. *''Beyond Here Is Nothing''. Self-published, 2017. . Three interwoven volumes. Edition of 500 copies. *''A Star in the Sea''. Self-published, 2019. . Edition of 150 copies. *''Pang'Ono Pang'Ono''. Self-published, 2023. Edition of 500 copies.

Publications with contributions El-Tantawy

*''The Other Hundred: 100 Faces, Places, Stories: Entrepreneurs.'' London:

Oneworld Publications Oneworld Publications is a British independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Novin Doostdar and Juliet Mabey originally to publish accessible non-fiction by experts and academics for the general market.

, 2015. Edited by Global Institute for Tomorrow. . With a foreword by Chandran Nair, an introduction by

Tash Aw Tash Aw, whose full name is Aw Ta-Shi (; born 4 October 1971) is a Malaysian writer living in London. Biography Born in 1971 in Taipei, Taiwan, to Malaysian parents, Tash Aw returned to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the age of two, and grew up t ...

, an afterword by Ian Johnson, and essays by Robyn Bargh, Eliane Brum,

David Goldblatt David Goldblatt HonFRPS (29 November 1930 – 25 June 2018) was a South African photographer noted for his portrayal of South Africa during the period of apartheid.Weinberg, Paul.David Goldblatt: Photographer Who Found the Human in an Inhuman ...

Tolu Ogunlesi Tolu Ogunlesi (born 3 March 1982) is a Nigerian journalist, poet, photographer, fiction writer, and blogger. Ogunlesi was appointed to the role of special assistant on digital/new media by President Muhammadu Buhari on 18 February 2016.

, Yasmine El Rashidi, and Huang Wenhai. El-Tantawy contributes text and photograph(s) about a solar energy business in Egypt.

Awards

*2014: Reminders Photography Stronghold Grant, Reminders Photography Stronghold, Tokyo, for her "I'll Die for You" series *2015: Shortlisted,

, along with

Erik Kessels Erik Kessels (1966) is a Dutch artist, designer and curator with a particular interest in photography, and co-founder of KesselsKramer, an advertising agency in Amsterdam. Kessels and Johan Kramer established the "legendary and unorthodox" Kessels ...

Trevor Paglen Trevor Paglen (born 1974) is an American artist, geographer, and author whose work tackles mass surveillance and data collection. In 2016, Paglen won the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize and he has also won The Cultural Award from the ...

, and

Tobias Zielony Tobias Zielony (born 1973) is a German photographer and short filmmaker, living in Berlin. He has made work about communities at the margins of society, such as young people. In 2015, Zielony's series on African refugees in Germany, ''the Citizen' ...

. *2015: Winner, Best Photobooks 2015 – Public vote / Public Visitor’s Prize, Fotobookfestival, Kassel, Germany, for ''In the Shadow of the Pyramids'' *2020: Joint winner, W. Eugene Smith fund Grant, for ''I'll Die for You''. The other winners were Andrés Cardona, Sabiha Çimen, Mariceu Erthal García, and Yuki Iwanami.

Exhibitions

*''In the Shadow of the Pyramids,''

Pitt Rivers Museum Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford in England. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed t ...

, Photography Oxford Festival 14, Oxford, England, September–October 2014 *''I'll Die For You,'' London *''Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2016'' included El-Tantawy's ''In the Shadow of the Pyramids,''

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established in ...

, London, April–July 2016. Work by the

shortlist also with

, and

. An installation of El-Tantawy's project using projected photographs, prints in light boxes, sound recordings and the book ''In the Shadow of the Pyramids''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tantawy, Laura Living people 1980 births Egyptian photojournalists English women photographers University of Georgia alumni Alumni of the University of Westminster Egyptian women photographers Egyptian expatriates in the United States Women photojournalists 20th-century Egyptian photographers 21st-century Egyptian photographers