Once there was a Tram” is a personal documentary project centered on the Alexandria tram, a historic part of the city of Alexandria that has been operating for the past 120 years but now faces the threat of extinction. The Alexandria tram, built in 1860 during the reign of Muhammad Said Pasha, was the first public transportation system in Africa. This line connects the city center with the west, passing through the oldest and most popular neighborhoods such as Muharram Bey, Mina Al-Basal, and Ras al-Teen, near the Royal Palace and the Egyptian Hall.
This project marked a significant turning point in my career. It was my first story, and it transformed my path from a chemical engineer to a full-time photographer.
This journey is a bridge between generations. Many of us have lost grandparents without having the chance to talk with them about the past; I am one of those, having lived abroad for a long time. This project is deeply personal to me, driven by a desire to understand my own past and the rich history of my homeland. Nostalgia was the spark that ignited my project with the old tram in Alexandria.
I aimed to capture the daily life of people on the tram, focusing on those fleeting moments of escape and reprieve. Inside the tram, I discovered a microcosm of the outside world in Egypt. The tram became a live broadcast of life, each passenger carrying their own story as they boarded and departed.
Nostalgia is about retrieving the best chapter of a story selected from our Museum of Memory. That was my story with Alexandria’s old tram. Hitting an object of affection can touch the memory in the same way as falling in love. I traveled to the past with this tram, box-like and suffering the injuries of time, with dust accumulating on its rickety old body and the outside world leaving its mark on it.
I decided to enter this chest to explore its inner world, thinking it might be a reflection of the outside world. The stories of people are complementary, and their daily lives are evident in every look, gesture, and expression. Light penetrates the tram and falls on people as if it were a lightning bolt of hope in everyday darkness.
As I looked out the tram window, numerous ideas filled my mind, each seeking to capture the fleeting remnants of our history. In my constant search for identity and the history of my homeland, the tram offered me the beginning of an answer. What started as family fun trips evolved into a month-long journey in 2019, documenting life in the suburbs of Alexandria’s oldest neighborhoods.
I photographed the intimate spatial and personal relationships commuters enter to travel. Seemingly invisible to my sitters, I looked outside and through the tram’s windows, giving form to passengers’ stolen glances, unsaid thoughts, and the conversations overheard. Here, daily life is about one-time moments of escape and reprieve.
I could feel the rhythm of life and the effect of external pressures on them. With each passenger present, I also felt the intensity of their day. With each person entering or getting off the tram, a story comes and another goes. Life is a live stream. As people wonder about their fate and destination, my question remains: “How long will this box endure the changes of the outside world?”
My creative references draw inspiration from the impactful work of W. Eugene Smith, particularly his Minamata photo essay addressing industrial pollution. I aim to emulate his ability to bring visibility to social and environmental injustices through compelling visual narratives. Smith, one of the most important American photographers in the development of the editorial photo essay, inspired me to create my own photo essay.
Inspired by Smith’s work, I decided to create my first photo essay. The Alexandria tram became my subject, and under the mentorship of Bruno Boudjelal, a member of Agence VU’, I embarked on this journey. Bruno guided me through the project, pushing me to craft my first personal story about the old tramway in my second home, Alexandria.
For this project, I used the Fujifilm XT3 and the XF 23mm f/1.4 lens. The camera was incredibly helpful due to its compact size and vintage look, which made people feel at ease. Over the course of a month, I rode the tram at the same time each day, building a rapport with the passengers and the driver. This familiarity allowed me to capture intimate and genuine moments inside the tram.
