In the words of Shimaa Moneer: “I believe in the potential and power of female photographers.”

Despite having 12 years of experience as a professional photographer, 32-year-old photographer Shimaa Moneer wanted to learn more about the field and continue to develop her skills. She also had big dreams of empowering Egyptian female photographers and believed that joining UN Women’s photography training would help her do just that.

    “With a bachelor’s degree in journalism, I began my career as a professional photographer and videographer. I practised journalism and was proud to see my work featured by many prominent national news agencies.

However, in time, I found that journalistic photography was not providing me with the stability and financial income I needed. Therefore, I established my own freelance photography business providing photo sessions, wedding photography and fashion shoots.

Although I’ve been in the field for so many years, I believe that I can always learn new things and enrich my portfolio. That’s why I was extremely interested to apply for UN Women’s photography training.

I had just started to explore the field of food photography as I was interested in photographing objects instead of people, so the training came to me at the perfect time to help me take my first steps in the right direction.

During the training, I learned the specific technical skills needed for food photography and I now understand its intricate work. In addition, with the help of the instructors, I created an entire mobile studio with all the needed equipment, which I can set up in any restaurant for a shoot. The training not only helped me become a food photographer, but a food stylist as well, as I learned that this would enhance my skills and help me in creating impressive shoots.

My graduation project for the training was a food photography session with a fish restaurant in Egypt. It was my first time with such an experience, which I found very insightful. I am now connecting with marketing agencies to reach more clients. I even launched my own online blog, where I post my photos to expand my reach. I’m proud to see some financial returns from my work on food photography and I’m sure that this will increase in time. 

In addition to learning a new type of photography, the training was also a great opportunity for me to get a refresher on all the rules and guidelines of photography, especially in terms of setting up lighting equipment and the correct angles to use.

Although I had only applied to the photography training, I was nominated and selected to receive film-directing training, and to be among the team to join the documentary competition that was organized at the end of the training programme. This experience broadened my horizons significantly as it was my first time directing a documentary and working with a crew on the ground. I learned the crucial importance of planning and preparing everything for a shoot. I was very happy and proud to see a film that I had worked on being viewed and enjoyed by an audience.

I also got a one-month internship opportunity in directing with a film-production house, which was a great experience as I had access to on-the-ground film shoots. I learned more about filmmaking, the role of a director, and I also had the opportunity to work on film editing, which was a new experience for me and was extremely insightful.

Throughout the years, I’ve often needed technical and professional support and have not always found it. However, thanks to this training, I now have a support system that I can revert to whenever I need any help. I‘ve seen many other women in my profession experience the same thing. And because I believe in the potential and power of female photographers, I’ve started an online network, through social media, of female photographers and videographers in Egypt, where we can support each other and have a platform for professional networking.

I dream of one day growing this network until I can establish an international broadcasting agency. I want this agency to gather all Egyptian female photographers and videographers under one institution where they can find the technical and professional support they need to excel. Through this agency, we would work together to produce content focusing on different topics, including social issues, the economy, current news, and so much more. I have a vision that we would start producing this content on social media and grow until one day we can cover all communication channels, including the web, TV, radio and more. Who knows, maybe we could even grow enough to compete with some of the biggest international news agencies one day.”

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The photography training that Shimaa joined falls within a wider set of trainings on creative industries delivered by Arascope for media production in cooperation with Media-Arts for Development (MADEV) including directing, scriptwriting, copywriting, editing and coloring.

The activity comes within the framework of the regional joint programme “Promoting Productive Employment and Decent Work for Women in Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine,” implemented by UN Women and the International Labor Organization (ILO), in partnership with the National Council for Women and the Ministry of Manpower, with the support of the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida).

Through this activity, internship opportunities were offered to 100 distinguished women trainees. In addition, teams of selected 30 trainees took part in a documentary competition, which resulted in the production of three women-led documentaries that focused on societal stories portrayed through women’s eyes. The documentaries have been submitted for participation at the upcoming edition of Aswan International Women Film Festival.