In 2015, during his study at DMJX, Roger Anis made the personal project A Blessed Marriage. Now, he and his former wife have collaborated on a development of the project with the new title A Blessed Marriage / Divorce. This new project has been exhibited at Rotterdam Photo Festival from March 25 to 29, 2026.
Karoline Kamal and Roger Anis write about the project:
Ten years ago, we got married in Egypt, a Catholic marriage between two Christians. Like many couples, we married partly under social pressure, but also because we wanted the chance to live a normal life together in a society where relationships outside marriage are closely watched and judged.
Before our wedding in 2015, we collaborated on a project called A Blessed Marriage, exploring how society sees couples as inevitable brides and grooms. At the time, people often joked with us: “But you are Christians… divorce is impossible, right?”
In 2020, we decided to separate. Yet the real challenge was not the separation itself, but how to legally divorce. In Egypt, there is no civil marriage; marriage and divorce are governed by religious institutions. Whether Muslim or Christian, couples must go through their religious authorities. For Christians, divorce is extremely restricted, leaving many couples trapped in unhappy or even violent marriages.
Our journey lasted five exhausting years and three legal attempts. Finally, on May 14, 2025, by coincidence, the same date as our wedding, a court granted our divorce under Islamic law.
In Arabic, two words translate into “Love”: Hubb and Mahaba. “Hubb” is romantic love, which can fade. “Mahaba” is deeper, a love rooted in compassion and care.
Our romantic love ended, but “Mahaba” remained.
This story is not only ours. It echoes the lives of thousands of Christian families in Egypt living with the weight of marriages they cannot legally leave.
Roger Anis studied at DMJX in 2015, where he graduated both Photo 1 and 2. After this, he obtained a Master’s degree from the Royal Academy of Arts (KABK) in den Hague, the Netherlands.