Alwan, Yasser

Yasser Alwan is a renowned human rights photographer currently living and working in Cairo. He was born in Nigeria to Iraqi parents and studied and worked in Lebanon, Iraq, United States, Sudan and Jordan before moving to Egypt in 1994. He received a bachelor’s degree in French literature from Colby College and an master’s degree in politics and history from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. To support his photography, he has taught writing at the American University in Cairo. Alwan has received many awards for his photography, including the Mother Jones International Documentary Photography award in 2001 for a photo project focusing on human rights. His work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions in cities like Frankfurt, Cairo, San Francisco, London, Beirut, Paris, and most recently in Doha. He regularly contributes articles to several publications in Egypt and wrote “Imagining Egypt”, a book about the history of European photography in Egypt.