The Danish photomarathon in August 2010 was a huge success. Photo: Osama Dawod

With discussions ongoing for a first ever photo marathon in the Arab world, organisers in Cairo look to the Danish Photo Marathon for inspiration

More than 350 photographers took part in this year’s Danish Photo Marathon, one of the longest running photo marathons in the world. The marathon is a photography competition in which participants, both amateurs and professionals, take a series of photographs on predetermined themes over typically 12 to 24 hours.

Photo marathon to engage the public

The photography themes often spark debate and are meant to challenge people’s creativity. This factor has inspired the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI) in Cairo (IMS) to explore the possibilities of carrying out a photo marathon in the mega-city Cairo with support from International Media Support (IMS)

- There is an active photography and visual arts culture in Cairo, but there has never been a photo marathon in the Arab world, explains Ms. Muna Bur, DEDI’s gender coordinator, during her visit in Denmark to observe how the photo marathon is organised and to seek inspiration 

-  It is clear that the marathon is a way in which to engage the public on social issues, particularly gender issues, in a creative, imaginative, dynamic and non-traditional way, she continues.

Addressing Gender Inequality of women

DEDI works to strengthen the dialogue between Europe and the Arab World within political, social and legal reform contexts, but also focuses on how citizens of these societies themselves look at their lives and futures.

Verbal and physical sexual harassment, a palpable example of the gender divide in contemporary Egyptian culture- is according to Muna Bur becoming a pronounced issue widely debated, with a recent ECWR survey showing that 90 per cent of Egyptian women are harassed by men on a daily basis.

As DEDI’s gender coordinator, Muna Bur’s role is to find new ways of encouraging public debates on relevant gender issues in a creative way and finding new ways of addressing social inequalities.

- With a photo marathon you can choose photography themes that will engage the participants in gender issues.

- One example of a theme could be sexual harassment which would  participants to think more heavily about this issue when trying to picture and interpret it in a photograph.

- Verbal and physical sexual harassment is a huge problem in the densely populated city of Cairo. A plethora of verbally abusive remarks about women have become jokes in public speech as Egyptian culture is very humorous. But now, a small number of women are beginning to take action and report harassment to the authorities although any action to address these complaints have yet to really materialise.

So in effect, it is about raising awareness and encouraging public debate through photography, says Muna Bur, who herself is no stranger to harassment in her daily life in Cairo.

The idea of using a photo marathon in Egypt to raise debate about gender issues chimes well with IMS’ own objectives of its media support to promote gender equality in the Arab world.

The Egyptian context

Organising a photo marathon in an enormous and densely populated city such as Cairo would be no easy task. According to Muna Bur, it would not be a case of replicating the model of the Danish Photo Marathon, but rather of seeking inspiration and adapting the activity to a local context.

- The Copenhagen Photo Marathon is a social event where the participants all gather at a meeting point and can spot each other throughout the day because of the green arm bands that all participants wear. This would not work in Cairo, mainly because of the city’s size, but also because it would attract far too much attention. A photo marathon in Cairo would have different submission points around the city and less participants than the Danish one to begin with as a pilot activity, Muna Bur explains.

She continues:

- In Cairo, you would not be able to carry out a 24-hour photo marathon, as it would not offer ample opportunity for women and girls to participate during the late night marathon hours. A more realistic duration would be 6 – 12 hours.

- And there is the question of equipment. While the camera of choice for photographers in the Danish Photo Marathon was digital, in the Egyptian context mobile phone cameras are far more widespread than digital cameras.

The discussions about a potential photo marathon in Egypt in 2011 continue although the decision of whether to go ahead has yet to be made.

Click here for more about the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI) and the Danish Photo Marathon.