Sahl Abdelrahman holds his first solo exhibition at The American University in Cairo from September 12 to October 17, 2024. Sahl exhibits his long term project “Child Power” that he started during the DMJX educational programme in 2021/2022. He has been selected for a scholarship study at our Photo 1 programme this fall, but hasn’t been able to leave Egypt.
Poster for Sahl Abdelrahman’s exhibition at The Photographic Gallery at The American University in Cairo. On the picture it’s Yasmine, 10 years old, who has been working in the cotton fields since she was 6 years old to help support her family. Her father is unable to work due to some health problems in his feet. Fayoum, Egypt 2022. Photo from the series by Sahl Abdelrahman.
View of Sahl Abdelrahman’s exhibition Child Power before the opening. Sahl started the story as his final project during the DEDI/DMJX educational programme that ran in November/December 2021 and in the spring 2022 in Cairo, Egypt. Sahl continued the story after the final workshop in June 2022. Photo: Dina ElDeep
Students from The American University in Cairo attending the opening of Sahl Abdelraham’s exhibition. Photo: Dina ElDeep
Sahl Abdelrahman has received The Ian Perry Photojournalism Grant and won first prize in the story category at the Egypt Press Photo 2022 for his story about children working in the agricultural sector in Fayoum Governorate, Egypt. Photo: Dina ElDeep
Sahl Abdelrahman writes about his project: The village of Harid is located in the Fayoum Governorate, which is known for child labor, especially in agricultural crops such as cotton and wormwood. These crops are grown in large areas and require a large number of labor. The work is limited to children only because of the low wages they receive. If an adult works, he will receive 3 times the wages of one child. Children are also exploited and forced to work for long hours, as their work starts from sunrise until twelve noon. Some of the kids contribute to the expenses of the family house hold and other children work to save some money to buy new clothes and tools for school. The project sheds light on the dreams of children that fade away in the agricultural fields, and according to a 2021 UNICEF statistic, 112 million children around the world work in the agricultural sector. Photo from the exhibition opening: Dina ElDeep