[{"id":22951,"user_id":20747,"object_id":11790,"object_type":"PMH\\Story","published_at":"2016-10-17 15:08:22","created_at":"2016-10-17 15:08:22","updated_at":"2016-10-17 15:08:22","user_attributes":{"id":20747,"firstname":"Laura","lastname":"El-Tantawy","username":"lauraeltantawy","name":"Laura El-Tantawy","profile":{"avatar":"\/users\/20747\/avatars\/owl20j7d6e952654.JPG","cover_image":"\/users\/20747\/cover_images\/owl21w35763cfe2c.JPG","nationality":"Egyptian","currently_in":null,"bio":"Laura El-Tantawy is an Egyptian photographer. She was born in Worcestershire, England to Egyptian parents. She attended high school in Saudi Arabia, started university in Cairo, Egypt and finished in the US. She reads, writes and speaks Arabic, thinks and dreams in English and feels both. This unusual blend carries through her photographic work. Her photography is inspired by questions on her identity - exploring social and environmental issues pertaining to her background. \n\nIn 2002, she started her career as a newspaper photographer with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Sarasota Herald-Tribune (USA). In 2006, she became freelance to pursue personal projects. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia (USA) with dual degrees in journalism and political science. Additional education includes an MA in Art and Media Practice from the University of Westminster (UK\/2011) and a Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford (UK\/2009).\n\nHer first book, In the Shadow of the Pyramids, offers a first person account exploring memory and identity against the backdrop of her native Egypt\u2019s political turmoil from 2005 to 2014. Self published on Jan. 25, 2015 to coincide with the anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, it has been named as one of the best photography books of 2015 by several critics and book collectors. It earned the nomination for the prestigious Deutsche B\u00f6rse Photography Foundation Prize 2016."}},"object":{"id":11790,"status_id":2,"user_id":20747,"cover_block_id":null,"place_id":145402,"started_at":"2005-01-01 00:00:00","ended_at":"2014-01-01 00:00:00","is_ongoing":0,"is_unpublished":0,"title":"In the shadow of the pyramids","slug":"in-the-shadow-of-the-pyramids-57f35858e8","slug_hash":"57f35858e8","excerpt":"<p>In the Shadow of the Pyramids<\/p>","excerpt_raw":"In the Shadow of the Pyramids","body":"<p>My work in Egypt began long before I understood its complexity. It was in mid-2005, a few months after my maternal grandmother unexpectedly passed away. Her death struck chaos in my family\u2019s otherwise structured existence. Death is the ultimate disorder - it leaves vast holes that others have to compensate for. <\/p><p>I witnessed the pillars of \u2018family\u2019 and \u2018home\u2019 as I knew them destruct around me.<\/p><p>I turned to the streets of Cairo to escape the darkness of death. I wanted to connect to a people of whom I am one, but among whom I felt like a stranger. It was a fragile moment in my life and this fragility stayed with me. The parallel narrative of my own search for identity and what became an entire nation\u2019s struggle for identity is serendipitous.<\/p>","body_raw":"My work in Egypt began long before I understood its complexity. It was in mid-2005, a few months after my maternal grandmother unexpectedly passed away. Her death struck chaos in my family\u2019s otherwise structured existence. Death is the ultimate disorder - it leaves vast holes that others have to compensate for. \n\nI witnessed the pillars of \u2018family\u2019 and \u2018home\u2019 as I knew them destruct around me.\n\nI turned to the streets of Cairo to escape the darkness of death. I wanted to connect to a people of whom I am one, but among whom I felt like a stranger. It was a fragile moment in my life and this fragility stayed with me. The parallel narrative of my own search for identity and what became an entire nation\u2019s struggle for identity is serendipitous.","published_at":"2016-10-17 15:08:22","is_legacy":null,"legacy_id":null,"position":1,"created_at":"2016-10-17 14:52:05","updated_at":"2016-10-25 11:23:34","user_attributes":{"id":20747,"firstname":"Laura","lastname":"El-Tantawy","username":"lauraeltantawy","name":"Laura El-Tantawy","profile":{"avatar":"\/users\/20747\/avatars\/owl20j7d6e952654.JPG","cover_image":"\/users\/20747\/cover_images\/owl21w35763cfe2c.JPG","nationality":"Egyptian","currently_in":null,"bio":"Laura El-Tantawy is an Egyptian photographer. She was born in Worcestershire, England to Egyptian parents. She attended high school in Saudi Arabia, started university in Cairo, Egypt and finished in the US. She reads, writes and speaks Arabic, thinks and dreams in English and feels both. This unusual blend carries through her photographic work. Her photography is inspired by questions on her identity - exploring social and environmental issues pertaining to her background. \n\nIn 2002, she started her career as a newspaper photographer with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Sarasota Herald-Tribune (USA). In 2006, she became freelance to pursue personal projects. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia (USA) with dual degrees in journalism and political science. Additional education includes an MA in Art and Media Practice from the University of Westminster (UK\/2011) and a Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford (UK\/2009).\n\nHer first book, In the Shadow of the Pyramids, offers a first person account exploring memory and identity against the backdrop of her native Egypt\u2019s political turmoil from 2005 to 2014. Self published on Jan. 25, 2015 to coincide with the anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, it has been named as one of the best photography books of 2015 by several critics and book collectors. It earned the nomination for the prestigious Deutsche B\u00f6rse Photography Foundation Prize 2016."}},"meta":{"is_liked":false,"like_count":1},"activity_attributes":{"place":"Egypt","image_filename":null,"video_service":"vimeo","video_code":"164410851"},"url":"\/lauraeltantawy\/story\/in-the-shadow-of-the-pyramids-57f35858e8","comments":[],"cover_block_image":null,"blocks":[{"id":98968,"story_id":11790,"image_id":null,"video_id":131,"caption":null,"caption_raw":null,"position":0,"is_explicit":null,"is_admin_explicit":null,"is_legacy":null,"legacy_id":null,"created_at":"2016-10-17 14:53:08","updated_at":"2016-10-17 14:53:08","meta":{"is_liked":false,"like_count":0},"activity_attributes":{"story":{"title":"In the shadow of the pyramids","started_at":"2005-01-01 00:00:00","ended_at":"2014-01-01 00:00:00","slug":"in-the-shadow-of-the-pyramids-57f35858e8","place":"Egypt","user":{"firstname":"Laura","lastname":"El-Tantawy","username":"lauraeltantawy","profile":{"avatar":"\/users\/20747\/avatars\/owl20j7d6e952654.JPG"}}},"image_filename":null,"video_meta":{"code":"164410851","service":"vimeo"}},"image":null,"video":{"id":131,"code":"164410851","service":"vimeo","created_at":"2016-10-17 14:53:08","updated_at":"2016-10-17 14:53:08"}}]}},{"id":22952,"user_id":20747,"object_id":11792,"object_type":"PMH\\Story","published_at":"2016-10-17 15:28:34","created_at":"2016-10-17 15:28:34","updated_at":"2016-10-17 15:28:34","user_attributes":{"id":20747,"firstname":"Laura","lastname":"El-Tantawy","username":"lauraeltantawy","name":"Laura El-Tantawy","profile":{"avatar":"\/users\/20747\/avatars\/owl20j7d6e952654.JPG","cover_image":"\/users\/20747\/cover_images\/owl21w35763cfe2c.JPG","nationality":"Egyptian","currently_in":null,"bio":"Laura El-Tantawy is an Egyptian photographer. She was born in Worcestershire, England to Egyptian parents. She attended high school in Saudi Arabia, started university in Cairo, Egypt and finished in the US. She reads, writes and speaks Arabic, thinks and dreams in English and feels both. This unusual blend carries through her photographic work. Her photography is inspired by questions on her identity - exploring social and environmental issues pertaining to her background. \n\nIn 2002, she started her career as a newspaper photographer with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Sarasota Herald-Tribune (USA). In 2006, she became freelance to pursue personal projects. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia (USA) with dual degrees in journalism and political science. Additional education includes an MA in Art and Media Practice from the University of Westminster (UK\/2011) and a Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford (UK\/2009).\n\nHer first book, In the Shadow of the Pyramids, offers a first person account exploring memory and identity against the backdrop of her native Egypt\u2019s political turmoil from 2005 to 2014. Self published on Jan. 25, 2015 to coincide with the anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, it has been named as one of the best photography books of 2015 by several critics and book collectors. It earned the nomination for the prestigious Deutsche B\u00f6rse Photography Foundation Prize 2016."}},"object":{"id":11792,"status_id":2,"user_id":20747,"cover_block_id":98982,"place_id":145437,"started_at":"2008-01-01 00:00:00","ended_at":null,"is_ongoing":1,"is_unpublished":0,"title":"i'll die for you","slug":"i-ll-die-for-you-fd0da0629e","slug_hash":"fd0da0629e","excerpt":"<p>I'll Die For You<\/p>","excerpt_raw":"I'll Die For You","body":"<p>On June 11, 2010, 35-year-old cotton farmer Sanjay Avbhutrao Sarate, stumbled to the doorstep of his home and fell on the ground. \"I\u2019ve taken pesticide \u2026 I\u2019m going to die,\u201d he told his wife. \u201cThis is the end of my life.\u201d Sanjay hugged his then-six-year-old son, Sameer, as he journeyed from life to death with his last breath.<\/p><p>Over the past 21 years, nearly 300,000 farmers have committed suicide in India. Many had borrowed money through government lending schemes or private lenders to plant more efficient crops, but could not pay off their debts. Because of the fast transition India has undergone \u2014 from a rural to an industrial, urban economy with an open market, farmers have been confronted by immense social and economic problems. Most farmers, like Sanjay, consumed pesticide, others set themselves on fire or hung themselves. Some threw themselves down a well.<\/p>","body_raw":"On June 11, 2010, 35-year-old cotton farmer Sanjay Avbhutrao Sarate, stumbled to the doorstep of his home and fell on the ground. \"I\u2019ve taken pesticide \u2026 I\u2019m going to die,\u201d he told his wife. \u201cThis is the end of my life.\u201d Sanjay hugged his then-six-year-old son, Sameer, as he journeyed from life to death with his last breath.\n \nOver the past 21 years, nearly 300,000 farmers have committed suicide in India. Many had borrowed money through government lending schemes or private lenders to plant more efficient crops, but could not pay off their debts. Because of the fast transition India has undergone \u2014 from a rural to an industrial, urban economy with an open market, farmers have been confronted by immense social and economic problems. Most farmers, like Sanjay, consumed pesticide, others set themselves on fire or hung themselves. Some threw themselves down a well.","published_at":"2016-10-17 15:28:34","is_legacy":null,"legacy_id":null,"position":1,"created_at":"2016-10-17 15:14:29","updated_at":"2016-10-25 11:25:12","user_attributes":{"id":20747,"firstname":"Laura","lastname":"El-Tantawy","username":"lauraeltantawy","name":"Laura El-Tantawy","profile":{"avatar":"\/users\/20747\/avatars\/owl20j7d6e952654.JPG","cover_image":"\/users\/20747\/cover_images\/owl21w35763cfe2c.JPG","nationality":"Egyptian","currently_in":null,"bio":"Laura El-Tantawy is an Egyptian photographer. She was born in Worcestershire, England to Egyptian parents. She attended high school in Saudi Arabia, started university in Cairo, Egypt and finished in the US. She reads, writes and speaks Arabic, thinks and dreams in English and feels both. This unusual blend carries through her photographic work. Her photography is inspired by questions on her identity - exploring social and environmental issues pertaining to her background. \n\nIn 2002, she started her career as a newspaper photographer with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Sarasota Herald-Tribune (USA). In 2006, she became freelance to pursue personal projects. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia (USA) with dual degrees in journalism and political science. Additional education includes an MA in Art and Media Practice from the University of Westminster (UK\/2011) and a Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford (UK\/2009).\n\nHer first book, In the Shadow of the Pyramids, offers a first person account exploring memory and identity against the backdrop of her native Egypt\u2019s political turmoil from 2005 to 2014. Self published on Jan. 25, 2015 to coincide with the anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, it has been named as one of the best photography books of 2015 by several critics and book collectors. It earned the nomination for the prestigious Deutsche B\u00f6rse Photography Foundation Prize 2016."}},"meta":{"is_liked":false,"like_count":1},"activity_attributes":{"place":"India","image_filename":"\/users\/20747\/stories\/11792\/of76s1612d4c6f66.jpg","video_service":null,"video_code":null},"url":"\/lauraeltantawy\/story\/i-ll-die-for-you-fd0da0629e","comments":[],"cover_block_image":{"id":98982,"story_id":11792,"image_id":101090,"video_id":null,"caption":null,"caption_raw":null,"position":0,"is_explicit":null,"is_admin_explicit":null,"is_legacy":null,"legacy_id":null,"created_at":"2016-10-17 15:24:02","updated_at":"2016-10-17 15:24:02","meta":{"is_liked":false,"like_count":0},"activity_attributes":{"story":{"title":"i'll die for you","started_at":"2008-01-01 00:00:00","ended_at":null,"slug":"i-ll-die-for-you-fd0da0629e","place":"India","user":{"firstname":"Laura","lastname":"El-Tantawy","username":"lauraeltantawy","profile":{"avatar":"\/users\/20747\/avatars\/owl20j7d6e952654.JPG"}}},"image_filename":"\/users\/20747\/stories\/11792\/of76s1612d4c6f66.jpg","video_meta":null},"image":{"id":101090,"filename":"\/users\/20747\/stories\/11792\/of76s1612d4c6f66.jpg","created_at":"2016-10-17 15:24:02","updated_at":"2016-10-17 15:24:02"},"video":null}}}]

[{"user_id":20747,"object_id":null,"object_type":"PMH\\FollowGroup","objects":[{"id":8566,"user_id":16510,"object_id":8566,"object_type":"PMH\\Follow","published_at":"2016-10-17 14:28:19","created_at":"2016-10-17 14:28:19","updated_at":"2016-10-17 14:28:19","follower_id":20747,"deleted_at":null,"user_attributes":{"id":16510,"firstname":"Katrin","lastname":"Koenning","username":"katrinkoenning","name":"Katrin Koenning","profile":{"avatar":"\/users\/16510\/avatars\/nyozvsa6fc1a1a65.jpeg","cover_image":null,"nationality":null,"currently_in":null,"bio":"I was born and grew up in Germany's Ruhrgebiet - once the country's industrial heart. When I was 25, I relocated to Australia and am currently based in Melbourne. Coming from a story of migration through language, culture and continent, I am interested in our physical and emotional connection to place, and to that which surrounds us. A lot of my work is an inquiry into these ideas.\n\nI regularly exhibit both nationally and internationally and my work has been published widely, including in Photographers\u2019 Sketchbooks and Hijacked III. I am a regular contributor to the New York Times, and have won a number of awards including most recently the Daylight Photo Award.\n\nI am a former Editor of the Australian PhotoJournalist Magazine and am currently acting as curatorial adviser for Wallflower Photomedia Gallery, Mildura. I lecture at Photography Studies College, Melbourne."}},"object":{"id":8566,"user_id":16510,"follower_id":20747,"created_at":"2016-10-17 14:28:19","updated_at":"2016-10-17 14:28:19","deleted_at":null,"followee_attributes":{"id":16510,"firstname":"Katrin","lastname":"Koenning","username":"katrinkoenning","profile":{"based_in_name":null,"avatar":"\/users\/16510\/avatars\/nyozvsa6fc1a1a65.jpeg","cover_image":null}},"meta":{"follower_count":186,"following_count":0,"auth_user_follows":false,"is_photographer":true,"is_editor":false}}},{"id":8565,"user_id":4087,"object_id":8565,"object_type":"PMH\\Follow","published_at":"2016-10-17 14:26:50","created_at":"2016-10-17 14:26:50","updated_at":"2016-10-17 14:26:50","follower_id":20747,"deleted_at":null,"user_attributes":{"id":4087,"firstname":"Maika","lastname":"Elan","username":"maikaelan","name":"Maika Elan","profile":{"avatar":"\/users\/4087\/avatars\/nyo9ise4f0fccbbd.jpeg","cover_image":null,"nationality":null,"currently_in":null,"bio":"Full name: Nguyen Thanh Hai\nNick name: Maika Elan\nOccupation: Freelance Photographer\nYear of birth: 1986\nLocation based: Hanoi, Vietnam\n\nAfter study sociology at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi, Maika started to use the camera, and then Lomo\u2019s family cameras, to take pictures of her daily and private life since 2006. She turned to professional photography soon starting collaborations for editorial clients and fashion firms in Vietnam. In 2010 Maika moved to documentary photography and her first project called The Pink Choice, focused on personal life of gay couples in Vietnam, has been published in many magazines on print and online such as in USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain, China, India and Brazil. Maika Elan was double-awarded for the \u201cbest photo essay\u201d and the \u201cbest single photo\u201d in 2010 at Indochina Media Memorial Foundation and in 2012 The Pink Choice was finalist at Asian Women Photographers.\n \nHer first solo exhibition has been hosted at Goethe Institut in Hanoi in 2012.\n \nThe Pink Choice won 1st prize stories, Contemporary Issues, at World Press Photo 2013 and 1st prize documentary story at Pride Photo Award 2013.\n\nMaika also participant in the 2013 Joop Swart Masterclass. \n\nMaika Elan is represented by MoST, a photo agency in Bangkok, Thailand\n\n \nExhibitions:\n2013\n PHOMPENH PHOTO FESTIVAL, Cambodia \n THE PINK CHOICE, Florence, Italy\n CHOBI MELA, Dhaka, Bangladesh. \n2012\nTHE PINK CHOICE, Goethe Institut, Hanoi, Vietnam.\nWORLD EVENT YOUNG ARTISTS, Nottingham, UK. \n2009\nEMERGENCY ROOM, Hanoi, Vietnam.\nCREATIVE ECONOMIES, Kulalumpur, Malaysia. \n\nExperiences and Award:\n2013\n\nThe Pink Choice won 1st prize stories, Contemporary Issues, at World Press Photo 2013.\nChobi Mela Festival in Darka, Bangladesh\n\n2012\nWorld Events Young Artist Festival in Nottingham, UK \nFoundry Photojournalism Workshop in Chiang Mai, Thailand \n\n2010\nAngkor Photo Workshop in Siem Reap, Cambodia\nIndochina Media Memorial Foundation (IMMF) workshop in Hanoi,Vietnam\n\n2009\nEmergency Room exhibition format in Hanoi, Vietnam \nKuala Lumpur Photography Festival \nCreative Economies workshop at the Asia-Europe Forum for Young Photographers in Kular Lumpur, Malaysia \n"}},"object":{"id":8565,"user_id":4087,"follower_id":20747,"created_at":"2016-10-17 14:26:50","updated_at":"2016-10-17 14:26:50","deleted_at":null,"followee_attributes":{"id":4087,"firstname":"Maika","lastname":"Elan","username":"maikaelan","profile":{"based_in_name":null,"avatar":"\/users\/4087\/avatars\/nyo9ise4f0fccbbd.jpeg","cover_image":null}},"meta":{"follower_count":193,"following_count":0,"auth_user_follows":false,"is_photographer":true,"is_editor":false}}}],"published_at":"2016-10-17 14:28:19","created_at":"2016-10-17 14:28:19","updated_at":"2016-10-17 14:28:19","user_attributes":{"id":20747,"firstname":"Laura","lastname":"El-Tantawy","username":"lauraeltantawy","name":"Laura El-Tantawy","profile":{"avatar":"\/users\/20747\/avatars\/owl20j7d6e952654.JPG","cover_image":"\/users\/20747\/cover_images\/owl21w35763cfe2c.JPG","nationality":"Egyptian","currently_in":null,"bio":"Laura El-Tantawy is an Egyptian photographer. She was born in Worcestershire, England to Egyptian parents. She attended high school in Saudi Arabia, started university in Cairo, Egypt and finished in the US. She reads, writes and speaks Arabic, thinks and dreams in English and feels both. This unusual blend carries through her photographic work. Her photography is inspired by questions on her identity - exploring social and environmental issues pertaining to her background. \n\nIn 2002, she started her career as a newspaper photographer with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Sarasota Herald-Tribune (USA). In 2006, she became freelance to pursue personal projects. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia (USA) with dual degrees in journalism and political science. Additional education includes an MA in Art and Media Practice from the University of Westminster (UK\/2011) and a Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford (UK\/2009).\n\nHer first book, In the Shadow of the Pyramids, offers a first person account exploring memory and identity against the backdrop of her native Egypt\u2019s political turmoil from 2005 to 2014. Self published on Jan. 25, 2015 to coincide with the anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, it has been named as one of the best photography books of 2015 by several critics and book collectors. It earned the nomination for the prestigious Deutsche B\u00f6rse Photography Foundation Prize 2016."}}}]