Latest news with #RebeccaSwift
CairoScene
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
How Egypt Looks to the World: A Talk with Getty Images' Rebecca Swift
How Egypt Looks to the World: A Talk with Getty Images' Rebecca Swift When Rebecca Swift speaks about images, she's not talking about pixels and resolutions. She's talking about power - who holds it, who shapes it, and what stories make it past the gatekeepers. As Senior Vice President of Creative Insight at Getty Images, one of the largest and most influential visual media archives in the world, Swift has spent her career studying the mechanics of representation: who gets seen, how they're portrayed, and what that visibility means. This week, she was in Cairo as part of Cairo Photo Week - a city-wide celebration of photography and visual culture that's become a key meeting ground for emerging creatives from across the region. Speaking to CairoScene during her visit, Swift reflected on the unique energy of Egypt's creative community and the importance of platforms like Getty evolving to better reflect the richness of underrepresented perspectives. 'There's a hunger here,' she noted. 'A boldness in how Egyptian photographers and visual storytellers are showing the world who they are - and who they've always been.' For decades, Egypt has often been viewed through a narrow, orientalist lens - pyramids, poverty, revolution. But the new wave of creators is shifting that. They're capturing Cairo's street style with the same reverence once reserved for ancient monuments. They're documenting joy, nuance, absurdity, softness. And perhaps most importantly, they're doing it on their own terms. Getty Images, long regarded as the global default for editorial and commercial visual media, is increasingly opening space for these perspectives. Through contributor outreach, partnerships, and narrative-driven briefs that center local authenticity, the platform is re-examining what 'stock' should look like - and who it should speak for. Swift acknowledged that while progress has been made, the work of rebalancing representation is ongoing. It's about Egyptian creatives taking back authorship and deciding how their culture is framed on the global stage. For a country that has always been photogenic, perhaps the next frontier is not being seen - but being seen accurately.
CairoScene
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
10 Global Photography Visionaries Headlining Cairo Photo Week
Big names from National Geographic Society, Getty Images, and AFP Photos are confirmed for the next edition of Cairo Photo Week. May 01, 2025 From May 8th to the 18th, Egypt's leading photography hub, Photopia, is bringing some of the biggest names in global visual storytelling to Downtown Cairo for the latest edition of Cairo Photo Week. In honour of this year's theme, 'Finding the View', the festival gathers leading industry figures from National Geographic Society, Getty Images, AFP Photos, and beyond for a lineup of exhibitions, workshops, portfolio reviews, and talks. Navigating multiple venues across the city, visitors can meet and learn from some of the most influential voices shaping global photography today. Here's a breakdown of some of the headline names you shouldn't miss. Tickets are available now via TicketsMarche and through the link in @CairoPhotoWeek's Instagram bio. One-day passes start at EGP 150, with full-festival passes available for EGP 450. Sana Ullah Sana Ullah is a visual storyteller and Senior Program Officer for National Geographic Society's Storytelling Grants and Programs team, where she manages over 300 grantees globally and mentors emerging photojournalists. She also facilitates grant writing workshops, participates in portfolio reviews, supports programming for internal conferences, and occasionally serves on photo competition juries worldwide. Dr. Rebecca Swift Dr. Rebecca Swift , Senior Vice President of Creative at Getty Images, oversees content creation for award-winning advertising, design, and editorial work globally. She collaborates with creators and art directors worldwide to ensure Getty Images continuously evolves, offering fresh and relevant content that inspires communicators around the world. Michael Robinson Chávez Michael Robinson Chávez , a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, became passionate about photography after receiving a camera for a trip to Peru. With over 15 years at The Washington Post and assignments in over 75 countries, he has documented major events like the Russia/Ukraine war, the collapse of Venezuela, and climate change in the Bay of Bengal and Siberia. Saba Askary Saba Askary , Manager of Programs at World Press Photo, is part of the organization's managerial team, responsible for facilitating the annual World Press Photo Contest along with education and public programming initiatives. Daniel Rodrigues Daniel Rodrigues , curator at Photo Vogue Festival, won first place in the Daily Life category of the World Press Photo Contest. He was named the third-best photographer of the year by POYi in 2015, Ibero-American Photographer of the Year by POY LATAM in 2017, and placed third as Photographer of the Year by NPPA. Thomas Borberg Thomas Borberg is a Danish photojournalist and staff photographer at Politiken, where he previously served as Photo Editor-in-Chief. He has judged major competitions including the World Press Photo Contest, and frequently lectures on photojournalism at international festivals and universities. Marco Longari Marco Longari is an Italian photojournalist and Canon Ambassador with over two decades of experience covering conflict and social upheaval across Kosovo, Rwanda, the Middle East, and South Africa. His work focuses on the lived experiences of ordinary people amid war, protest, and political unrest. Vincent van de Wijngaard Vincent van de Wijngaard is a Dutch photographer and filmmaker whose work has appeared in Vogue, GQ, and Interview, and has been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. His feature-length film There Is No Blue Without Yellow and Orange, exploring the world of Vincent van Gogh, premiered at the National Art Center in Tokyo. Özge Calafato Özge Calafato is a photography scholar, writer, and curator whose work explores the intersection of archives, memory, and cultural identity. She has held roles as a journalist, editor, and film programmer across Istanbul, London, and the UAE. Dr. Taous R. Dahmani Dr. Taous R. Dahmani is a London-based art historian, writer, and curator with French, British, and Algerian heritage, specialising in the intersection of photography and politics.
