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Young Cairo

 

Judgment comes easy, but sometimes life doesn’t. Taking a stance on quick opinions before trying to understand is a default that comes from the separation and lack of communication between different paths of life, different backgrounds, different futures. But it is precisely the future that can change if we slow down on our judgments and honour the truly rich and remarkable multicultural country we are.

Young Cairo is a social documentary series, set in Sydney's Inner West, that looks at the daily life of “Cairo”, a 21-year-old South Sudanese hip-hop artist that, just like everyone else, is immersed in the hustling of daily life, trying his best to be a son, a brother, an uncle, an adult and a professional musician.

A look at a world where family and social role models precipitate over each other in a social background that acts as a magnifying glass, revealing the conflicts that teenagers and young adults face nowadays, in all the different shades of us.

Cairo was born in Egypt, after his family flew from the war in South Sudan and landed in Australia one year later, in 1999, as a refugee. Leaving behind half of his siblings that he didn't have a chance to meet ever again.

Nowadays, Australia accepts a very limited number of refugees and has detention centres in the Pacific islands, such as Nauru and Manus. These policies have left very latently the division between society and some ethnic minorities and accentuating the difference between social classes. These new generations that Cairo is part of, are already made of Australian citizens and the integration is a very delicate and complex subject to be deconstructed in a simplified way.

Cairo was recently detained is awaiting a court audience to know about his future. Even at a very young age, he is the stronger male figure in his family, that waits impatiently by his return home to reestablish some balance in the family life.

 

EXHIBITIONS

Dec 2020    Young Cairo      

                    Addis Foto Festival, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Sep 2020    Young Cairo

                    International Festival of Photography of Porto Alegre, Brazil

Nov 2019    Young Cairo      

                    Sun Studios Emerging Photographer Award, Melbourne, Australia

Sep 2019   Young Cairo      

                    Sun Studios Emerging Photographer Award, Sydney, Australia

 

Sep 2019   Young Cairo      

                   Paraty Em Foco International Festival,  Paraty, Brazil

Jul 2019    Young Cairo      

                   Helsinki Photo Festival HELPHOTO, Helsinki, Finland

 

Jul 2019     Young Cairo      

                    Les Rencontres De La Photographie BYOB,  Arles 2019, France

May 2019   Young Cairo
                    HeadOn Photo Festival, Contact Sheet Gallery, Sydney, Australia

AWARDS

Set 2019    Young Cairo      

                    Highly Commended, Sun Studios Emerging Photographer Award, Australia

Jul 2019    Young Cairo      

                   Winner Open Call. Helsinki Photo Festival HELPHOTO, Helsinki, Finland

Jul 2019    Young Cairo - A young South-Sudanese living in Sydney's inner west.

                   Winner Best Image. Helsinki Photo Festival HELPHOTO, Helsinki, Finland

May 2019   Young Cairo - A young South-Sudanese living in Sydney's inner west
                    Semi-finalist Portrait Award, HeadOn Photo Festival

May 2019   Young Cairo
                    Capture Magazine Top 11 Australasia Emerging photographers 2019 - Documentary/Photojournalism

PUBLICATIONS 

Apr 2020   Young Cairo

                   Published in www.featureshoot.com

 

Oct 2019   Young Cairo

                   Interview published by Sun Studios.

Sep 2019   Young Cairo

                    The Guardian, Next generation: Australia's emerging photographer awards – in pictures

 

Sep 2019   Young Cairo

                    Olhares, Portugal

 

Jun 2019    Young Cairo
                    Social Documentary Network

May 2019   Young Cairo
                    Capture Magazine, Featured as one of Australasia Emerging Photographers 2019

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