by photographer Jihan Ammar 2003 FiftyCrows PhotoFund Winner - Africa Region
During her years as a professional photographer, Jihan Ammar observed that the portraits of the Middle East that were popularized in the mainstream news media always favored the extreme. That which was 'news-worthy' was the underpriviledged and the uneducated, the fanatic and the religious zealot, and more often than not, the male. Playing Cards with Grandma is Ammar's attempt to re-present life in the Middle East. Instead of sensationalizing or exoticizing her subjects, she documents the Muslim women around her through the lens of the everyday, the ordinary. Expressly interested in "women's lives and their mixed bag of class, beauty, marriage, religion, and personal relationships", she captures these women in their most private, candid moments. Ammar suggests to her viewers an honest cultural relatedness, one that is derived from the fundamentality of human intimacy and proximity.
Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies, American University (Cairo)
interdisciplinary research center and resource nexus that serves scholars interested in gender and women's studies in the Arabic speaking Middle East/North Africa, Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran, Central and South Asia & Africa
National Council for Women
council promoting the advancement of the Egyptian woman and enhancing her social, economic and political status; established by presidential decree in 2000
Alliance for Arab Women (AAW)
voluntary organization registered with the Ministry of Social Affairs (Egypt) to address issues relating to the role of women in Arab countries, emphasizing political, legal and economic rights
28 Adly St, Downtown Cairo, Egypt
Phone Number: 202-3939899
Fax Number:202-3936820
Email: aaw@ling.com.eg
Marie Stopes International
non-profit organization providing sexual and reproductive health information and services worldwide across 38 countries
Taking Action Success Story In summer 2000, Egyptian security officers raided the home of this widely respected scholar and arrested Dr. Ibrahim with offenses largely related to a documentary film he was making about Egyptian election irregularities. After three years Dr. Ibrahim was acquitted on all charges. More...
YES! Magazine
Positive Futures Network is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people’s active engagement in creating a just, sustainable, and compassionate world
