Renowned photographer brings social injustices to light

By Ryan, October 1, 2015

By Alexis Ancel, News Editor//

On Sept. 9, High Point University will be hosting award-winning Egyptian photographer Laura El-Tantawy, who will be presenting several bodies of her work.
The showcase will take place in the Phillips School of Business at 5:30 p.m. and is open to the public.
Her work shown will focus on various subjects that touch on several prominent social movements and political issues. The three bodies of work presented are entitled The Veil, In the Shadow of the Pyramids and I’ll Die For You.
The subjects of these bodies of work include Indian farmers, Arab Spring women a reflection and exploration of Egyptian identity. The event will be co-sponsored by the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the Faculty Cultural Enrichment Grant Series.
Given the nature of El-Tantawy’s work, this showcase aims to appeal to many different areas of interest ranging from the arts and media to feminism and social justice.
Dr. Jennifer Brandt, an assistant professor and director of the Women’s and Gender Studies department at HPU, noted “All students interested in art, photography and global freedom movements will find it an interesting event to attend.”
Dr. Nahed El-Tantawy, Laura El-Tantawy’s sister and a professor of Convergent Journalism and Women and Gender Studies at HPU, also noted the ways in which this work relates to more than one field.
“She is able to tell stories about diverse people and communities via images and in Convergent Journalism, we try to teach students to report on stories using diverse platforms that include photography,” Dr. El-Tantawy said.
One of the main goals of this showcase is to highlight women in different fields and professions and bring certain things to light by showing images that correspond to various social movements. For example, photos on the Arab Spring women focus on their involvement in the movements rather than their oppression.
Dr. Nahed El-Tantawy mentioned that the piece that means the most to her “…has to be the picture of the teary-eyed woman in [her] work on the Egyptian Revolution. That picture indeed shows that images can be a powerful tool to tell a story, whether it is a story of suffering or happiness.”
This event is in keeping with the University’s Common Experience theme this year of “Just Communities,” which aims to explore issues pertaining to justice within the community and what it means to be a community.
“We are committed to bringing out the issues of social justice, diversity and global citizenship,” Dr. Brandt said. “Laura’s work represents the program’s mission. We’re excited to share her work with the students.”
Because the event will be open to the public, turnout is expected to be high and give people from the High Point community as well as the university an opportunity to view and learn from El-Tantawy’s work.
One of the collections being presented entitled I’ll Die For You is one that El-Tantawy considers to be one of her most unique projects.
“The work is a departure from anything else I have ever done,” El-Tantawy said. “Hopefully I can continue to expand on my work and explore new concepts and ideas as long as I feel they are best to approach a particular issue.”