Su NPR un articolo dedicato al lavoro del fotografo egiziano Nour El Massry che ritrae il Cairo storico attraverso immagini di interni, strade e architetture, evocando un senso di nostalgia e tranquillità.

In 2019, Nour El Massry took a photo that would change his life: He snapped a photo of a large terrace in a historical building in the Garden City neighborhood of Cairo. Although the facades surrounding it were old and dusty, the tile on the balcony, home to a set of wicker chairs made comfier with worn kilim rugs, was spotless. He uploaded the image to Instagram. The next day, he was surprised to find that the post had gone viral. People all over the world were resharing it across social media. “It evoked emotional reactions of comfort and tranquility, nostalgia and connection,” he says.

Dopo il successo di questa prima immagine El Massry, che è un anche art director e produttore cinematografico, iniziò a pubblicare un flusso costante di fotografie, ispirate a Rembrandt, Michelangelo e Hussein Bicar alle quali spesso aggiunge elementi digitali per raggiungere il risultato estetico che desidera. El Massry mira a mostrare il lato sereno e storico del Cairo, lontano dal caos e dalla sovrappopolazione, creando immagini che sembrano dipinti.

But El Massry, 29, an Egyptian photographer, art director and film production designer based in Cairo, thought he could do better. “It was nice, but it wasn’t my favorite photo I’ve ever taken. So I decided to show my vision.” Since that moment, he’s been posting a regular flow of photos and photo collages of Egyptian interiors, city streets and architecture to his Instagram, @nour_elmassry. Many of his images feel like they were taken in another time. “Cairo is a diverse city with different histories and styles: Islamic, Coptic, Italian, British, French,” he says. “We are living in a museum.”