Vincent van de Wijngaard & Imaan Hammam’s Story Returns to Cairo

When Dutch filmmaker and photographer Vincent van de Wijngaard first visited Cairo two years ago, the image of the pyramids stayed with him. Not as distant monuments, but as part of the city’s everyday landscape. That perspective became the starting point for a new story.

Shot for Harper’s Bazaar US, the series titled ‘A Sense of Place’ follows Moroccan Dutch Egyptian model Imaan Hammam as she revisits her father’s narrative in Egypt. From a roadside café lit in soft blue tones to the wide desert expanses surrounding the Giza Plateau, the project blends fashion photography with a sense of personal return.

This week, van de Wijngaard is back in Cairo as part of Cairo Photo Week. His series is on view at the historic Cinema Radio in Downtown Cairo, not far from where the images were first captured.

Beyond exhibiting his work, van de Wijngaard engages with emerging photographers through portfolio reviews and workshops, helping to shape the conversations at the festival.

As Cairo Photo Week continues to foreground local narratives and expand the region’s image-making ecosystem, collaborations like van de Wijngaard’s serve as a reminder that stories do not just travel. They come home.

The festival is running until May 18th in Downtown Cairo.