Karim El Hayawan, Cancan 2017
Born and raised in Cairo, Karim El Hayawan is an interior architect and photographer. After learning the technical fundamentals from a long-time Reuters hand, Alaa Abdel Naby, El Hayawan found his passion in street photography and portraiture. Cairo wanderings are his prime visual interest and vocabulary, exploring the city's busy multi-layered cultural skin, from its recognised gems to abandoned architectural marvels, recording people who represent the genuine essence of what the city has to offer.
Karim El Hayawan, Faithfully Yours, 2014
His work was featured on a recent segment of CNN's Connect the World, in addition to various local and international publications. You can find his film for CNN here which gives an insight into his process of street photography and gives context to his photography of the city he loves and knows so well.
Karim El Hayawan, Hanging Memories, 2016
Karim enjoys trespassing into buildings, merging his love of photography and his love of architecture, exploring both simultaneously. The buildings provide a setting for his photography and the photography acts as a means through which he can discover architectural design. There is a vibrancy to Karim's work noted by many critics, he says he gets a 'rush' from trespassing into abandoned buildings. With his photography finds beauty in the forgotten, and his photography breathes life into the otherwise decaying ornate buildings of Cairo.
Karim El Hayawan, Silento, 2017
His photos have been exhibited at multiple cultural venues in Egypt, Kuwait and South Africa, including the Grid Cape Town Biennale in South Africa in 2014, the Benchmark Forum at GUST University in Kuwait (2014), Al Ahram's Salon for Fine Arts, Darb 1718, and most recently at Markaz and the Cairo Art Air at Arts-Mart. He is the winner of the 2013 Photo-marathon organised by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
The photographs will be on display at theprintspace, Shoreditch from 12th – 24th October, with a Private View taking place at 7:30pm on 12th October.