Alaa El Sayed
The project focuses on the waiter in an Egyptian qahwa (note the western terminology here, he is not called The waiter in this kind of coffee shops but for easing complicated linguistic issues, it might be the most convenient word to describe him). In face of, and in apposition to, those western fancy, organized coffee shops that have invaded the scene of the public places in Egypt, some but a good number of traditional Egyptian qahwas can still maintain their tradition, values and conventional organization. Yet, and of course they tend to look up to this trend of the western model of qahwas, I mean coffee shops.
The photographs provide a walk-through the qahwa until it reaches “the waiter.” They form a narrative about the setting of the place, its environment and its guests.
The project focuses on the waiter in an Egyptian qahwa (note the western terminology here, he is not called The waiter in this kind of coffee shops but for easing complicated linguistic issues, it might be the most convenient word to describe him). In face of, and in apposition to, those western fancy, organized coffee shops that have invaded the scene of the public places in Egypt, some but a good number of traditional Egyptian qahwas can still maintain their tradition, values and conventional organization. Yet, and of course they tend to look up to this trend of the western model of qahwas, I mean coffee shops.
The photographs provide a walk-through the qahwa until it reaches “the waiter.” They form a narrative about the setting of the place, its environment and its guests.