by Nadine Ali
For as long as I can remember, I have searched for love attempting to find moments of warmth and solace in a city that never rests. I have yearned to understand what it means to cherish the fleeting, to love what is mortal and destined to fade. This journey is my own recollection of intimacy, a reflection of how it once felt to hold and be held. These moments of intimacy that that exist linger in the spaces we rarely notice. Our homes, our beds, the arms of those we love, the tenderness of a mother’s prayer, the soft whisper of a bird that fits perfectly in the palm of your hands.
I have learned to understand what it means to embrace something even as I know it will one day be gone. Love that once felt so difficult to find, yet is buried within the memory of my body. Existing not in permanence but in the way it made me feel. Love does not tell us when or where to expect it. It does not tell you to prepare for loss. Love etches itself in your memory and leaves its trace on your being.
I was lucky to be trusted enough to be present in the homes of the people I photographed. It felt so special to observe them existing together, unbothered by me or my camera, as I witnessed their most heartfelt moments and conversations. Reminding me of my own memories of those I loved and lost.
Nadine Ali
Nadine Ali is a visual artist based in Cairo, Egypt. A Fine Arts graduate majoring in painting, Helwan University. With a growing passion for contemporary art and its history, the artist’s contributive, experimental, and educational journey started by participating in Studiokhana for contemporary art and cultural development’s (Students’ Council) program. As well as participating in the exhibition “We are seldom in two places at once,” curated by Studiokhana as a culmination of a series of workshops regarding photography, text-based art, performance, sound, and installation art.
While using different mediums such as photography, painting, and personal writings as a means of self-expression, the artist focuses on topics concerning the body as a psychological entity with layers to be explored, and how the body’s functionality gains its validity, despite the possibly assumed deformations, in her photography and text-based installation “Inmate, Companion” that was exhibited in Darb1718 in Cairo. The artist is also keen on exploring many aspects of the art world, the local art scene, through writing and researching. The use of language and words to construct bodies of text has been a skill and a tool the artist uses to expand her professional and personal interests in art and many different fields. Her work has been exhibited in different venues around Cairo, such as Darb1718, AUC Tahrir Culture Center, and CIC Contemporary Image Collective.
