Ala Kheir

Ala Kheir (Arabic: علاء خير, born April 1, 1985, in Nyala, Sudan) is a Sudanese photographer, cinematographer and mechanical engineer. He became known as one of the founders of the Sudanese Photographers Group in Khartoum in 2009 and through international exhibitions of his photographs, as well as for networking and training for photographers in Africa.

Ala Kheir
Born
Nyala, Sudan
NationalitySudan
Known fordocumentary photography, street photography
MovementAfrican photography
WebsiteAla Kheir official webpage

Biography and artistic career
Portrait of Sudanese visual artist Amna Elhassan by Ala Kheir, 2020

Kheir studied mechanical engineering in Malaysia and started as a self-taught photographer. Upon his return to Sudan, he and other photographers in Khartoum established the Sudanese Photographers Group. This group started taking and teaching photography as an art form, including other aspiring photographers into their workshops and exhibitions.[1]

Kheir also has been involved in networking and training for photographers in Africa, notably with the 'Centers of Learning for Photography in Africa' in Johannesburg, South Africa.[2] This network brings together African platforms active in photography education, where the members "exchange ideas and teaching methodologies and also learn as trainers."[1]

An example of such training and networking were a series of workshops and photo exhibitions in Khartoum between 2014 and 2016, called 'Mugran Foto Week'. The exhibition of 2016 presented the collective results of a workshop called 'Modern Times', conducted the year before by photographers Michelle Lukidis from South Africa and André Lützen from Germany.[3]

In 2021, Kheir served as a judge on the panel for the international Contemporary African Photography Prize (CAP) in Basel, Switzerland, "awarded annually to five photographers, whose works were created on the African continent, or which engage with the African diaspora."[4]

Ala Kheir's photographs have been published by The Guardian,[5][6] Brownbook magazine, Dubai, or the World Architecture Community. In 2020, his work was featured among 17 contemporary African photographers in the book The Journey. New Positions in African Photography.[7] From 2008 to 2018, these African photographers had been invited by local German cultural centres of the Goethe-Institut to attend masterclasses, curated by Simon Njami and established African photographers, such as Akinbode Akinbiyi.[8] In the 2021 French book on 52 contemporary African artists Oh! AfricArt, Kheir and his photographs are featured as the only artist from Sudan.[9] For their 2022 contest, World Press Photo nominated Kheir as jury member from Africa.[10]

In the magazine article 'Street Photography: A glimpse into Khartoum architecture and urban design', Kheir reflected on the nature of street photography:[11]

As a photographer, street photography has its unique joy, and the streets are the best place to link the human to the surrounding space resulting in an environmental portrait that tells the complete story. It is definitely a strong means to educate the public about our immediate environment.

— Ala Kheir, Sudanese photographer

Group and individual exhibitions
  • Reframing Neglect, Milan, New York and Abu Dhabi, Italy, USA and United Arab Emirates 2022/2023[12]
  • Revisiting Khartoum, African Capitals, France 2017
  • Revisiting Khartoum, Dakar Biennale, Senegal 2016
  • Khartoum 2 Addis, Venice Biennale, Italy 2015
  • Africa, Big chance, Big chance, Milan, Italy 2014
  • Invisible Borders, group exhibition, Addis Photo Festival, Ethiopia 2012
  • Khartoum (solo exhibition), Addis Photo Festival 2012
  • The Un-governables, group exhibition in New York 2012
  • Feel the color, Khartoum, 2009 (co-exhibition with Dia Khalil)
  • 50+1, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 2007[13]

Awards
  • Our Continent, Our Future photo competition, 2nd prize, 2013
  • Connect for Climate photo competition, 2nd prize, 2012
  • UN education photograph, 2010[13]

See also

References
  1. Diallo, Aïcha (29 October 2016). "Where the White Nile and the Blue Nile meet". Contemporary and. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  2. "Launch of the first phase of the 'Survey on photography training and learning initiatives on the African continent'". Contemporary and. Retrieved 10 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. Goethe-Institut Sudan (24 November 2017). "Photo exhibition Modern Times - Mugran Foto Week 2016". Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  4. "CAP Prize – International Prize for Contemporary African Photography". CAP Prize. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  5. "Sudanese beauty queen demands end to Nuba mountain bombing". the Guardian. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  6. Kheir, Ala; Burns, John; Algrefwi, Ibrahim (5 February 2016). "The psychedelic world of Sudan's Sufis – in pictures". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  7. "The Journey". KERBER VERLAG. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  8. Iduma, Emmanuel (24 June 2021). "Post-Continental: Contemporary African Photography". www.artnews.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  9. Tchoungui, Elizabeth (2021). Oh! AfricArt (in French). Vanves: Hachette Livre – Editions du Chêne. pp. 188–191. ISBN 9782812321016.
  10. "2022 World Press Photo Contest jury". www.worldpressphoto.org. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  11. Gaafar, Zainab (21 August 2017). "Street photography: a glimpse into Khartoum architecture and urban design". World Architecture Community. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  12. "Reframing Neglect Events Page". The END Fund. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  13. "African Photography Network - Ala Kheir". African Photography Network. Retrieved 17 January 2023.

Further reading
  • Njami, Simon; O'Toole, Sean, eds. (2020). The journey: new positions in African photography. Bielefeld: Kerber Publishers. ISBN 978-3-7356-0682-2. OCLC 1157344323.
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