The Warm Faces of Egypt Light Up in Adham Ragab’s New Ramadan Portrait Series

Adham Ragab’s newest collection, ‘Egyptian Portraits’, explores the intricacies of everyday Egyptian characters and celebrates the simple souls among us. The collection is not to be taken as a commentary on class dynamics, but rather it is a call to break down imagined barriers that separate us as a society.

Just in time for the holy month of Ramadan, the collection touches on the warm sentiment that unites our people during holidays, and was inspired by Orange Egypt’s popular ‘Dayman Maa’ Baad’ ad that was released in 2012. “I love listening to the stories of simple people when I’m on transportation services and feeling like there are no barriers between each other as a whole society,” said Ragab.

Inspired by the likes of his favourite local artists, including Salah Taher, Mahmoud Said, and Shadi Abdel Salam, Ragab specializes in contemporary portraits that capture the soul of the subject rather than replicating facial details to a T. “I’m an artist that thinks all the time about Egyptian society, with all of its positives and negatives," Ragab explained. "What inspires me is humanity.”

Although not a fine arts graduate, the 25-year-old Alexandrian artist has been enamoured with art since he was just five years old. Along that journey, he’s created numerous projects including ’Egyptian Cinema Scenes,’ a collection of 30 artworks based on scenes from new and old Egyptian films.