I grew up in Cairo, Egypt. A country with deep roots and strong culture. I had my first camera when I was about 8 years old. It was an ITT 110 film camera. Not so long afterwards, looking at the world from camera's view finder became my passion. I borrowed my dad's Yashica Electro 35, and my life changed forever. I realised that a view finder helps you focus on things we see everyday and we generally don't have the time to really get to know it. It was as if we are looking at the world from the outside, when there is a another world more fascinating inside waiting to be explored. There is a story behind everything we see everyday. There is another level of detail that we normally would not know unless we paused, and focused on what we see. Everything I did or learned after that day was to serve that purpose. Soon I started feeling the urge to break the barriers, go to new places, explore new terrains, or go underwater. The camera helped me focus my feelings on the subject and capture that feeling on film so I can relive the moment by looking at the picture.
I live in Sydney, a modern cosmopolitan city that is totally different from Cairo. I have a regular job in IT, Oh, did I mention that I am a computer geek and software programmer ? Why would I mention that in my photography blog ? This is my normal life away from the view finder, but once I hold my camera in my hands, I am back to being that child who captured his view of the world on film. My gear is completely different now that I own several Nikon digital cameras and lenses. Yet, I still have and use my Yashica. In fact, I became so keen on buying vintage cameras that were a dream to get back in the old days so I can enjoy what I missed such as the Yashica MAT 124G Medium Format camera. It became so nostalgic to me, that I started developing and printing my own film. I have a dark room that follows me wherever I go. To me, nothing compares to that moment when you see your picture appearing slowly on the print paper. A moment every film photographer will brag about his whole life. To me, a moment of uttermost curiosity, literally eager to "see what I have seen, and feel what I have felt in that moment when I pressed the camera shutter". The nostalgia that became my connection to my roots, culture, and childhood.
