Women behind the lens: ‘My grandma dressed like a celebrity, even matching the colour of her cigarettes to her outfits’ | World improvement

This picture is a portrait of me and my grandmother, Ehsan Ouf, in her flat in Cairo. It is a part of a venture Grandma and the Fur Coat that I began in 2024. I lived together with her for 4 years, whereas I used to be finding out images, and we spent quite a lot of time chatting and watching TV on that sofa.

The gown I’m sporting is her engagement gown from 1971 – one of many only a few gadgets she wore as a younger lady that she nonetheless has – and the fur coat she’s sporting was a present from my late grandfather. I persuaded her to not promote it – and that’s partly why I made a decision to start out this venture: to doc how trendy she was. In the 70s and 80s she dressed like a star, sporting manufacturers akin to Chanel and Dior. She had a group of wigs, and even matched the color of her cigarettes to her outfits.

Sometimes she tries to persuade me to put on a wig once I exit. I feel she secretly doesn’t like my curly hair.

While I used to be residing together with her I began going by means of packing containers of outdated images. One of my favourites is a black and white {photograph} taken on the day she bought engaged. Many of them have been taken by my late grandfather. He beloved photographing my grandmother. I by no means knew him – he died in 2000, two months after I used to be born – however we share the identical love of images. No one had shot her since he died so I wished to proceed his legacy – and do one thing for her.

When my grandfather was alive they usually hosted household and mates within the flat, however after his dying folks stopped coming to go to. Now her days are quiet, and generally lonely. As properly as being a tribute to how modern she was as a younger lady, this sequence displays on the passing of time, and the way life modifications. I’ve began a second venture, Ehsan, named after her, which focuses extra on who she is now: a 78-year-old lady who’s ageing gracefully.