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A Closet Full of Dreams

Dublin Core

Title

A Closet Full of Dreams

Subject

Motivation: The idea for "Closet Full of Dreams" came to Anis after continuously hearing from women surrounding him about all the challenges they face on a regular basis, including his partner, friends and relatives. Through his conversations with these women, one theme kept repetitively appearing, namely how they dream of wearing the clothes they would really want to wear, or how they possess clothing items in their closets that they feel they cannot wear. At the time, the discourse was already saturated with conversations and projects about sexual harassment, but Anis decided to take a different approach to the topic by making it more intimate with real stories. As a man, it was naturally more difficult to approach the topic and to attempt to unravel intimate details about women's closets, but he started with relying on his immediate circles, which helped a lot.

Description

In Closets Full of Dreams I’m Opening many girls closets, showing girls dreams and fears and their own stories in a society where women is facing danger, sexual Harassment and oppression in the street every day. It is a true story about almost every Egyptian girl or women I know that you will always find something in her closet that she never wear or wear it once and never did again because what she faced in the street or even among her own family and friends.For me the closets is a symbol for our mind if I can wear everything I can think about everything, if I cannot wear everything I cannot think and speak about everything It’s the simple and initial rules of being free, it is the freedom to wear what you want. If you find a society where people cannot wear what they want I believe that they also cannot talk and think about all what they want or do not want.The idea came to me after so many stories and complaints that i hear from a lot of close female friends about their dreams in wearing dresses and their sadness in storing their nice clothes and not wearing it because of the fear of the street and society.

Creator

Roger Anis

Source

http://www.rogeranis.photo/albums/a-closet-full-of-dreams/

Publisher

This was Anis' final project to obtain his diploma at the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Since then, it has been published and exhibited elsewhere, such as the Delhi Photo Festival (2015) and Causette Magazine.

Date

2015

Rights

Not approved to publish

Relation

Commissioned/supported/financed: Self-initiated

Format

This archive only includes a selection of photos from the project. To see the whole project please visit the artists website.

Language

English

Type

Portrait photography, still lives

Coverage

Location: Cairo

Items in the A Closet Full of Dreams Collection

Bildschirmfoto 2020-01-30 um 12.27.10.png

Karoline Kamel / 29 years old, I changed all my style and the way I'm wearing clothes just to walk around the streets. I started to wear loose fitting clothes so that I feel comfortable and secure in the street and I convinced myself that I love this style even if I'm not a big fan of it. Recently, I started to ride a bicycle in the streets of Cairo, and for those who have visited Cairo can imagine how horrible and hard it is to move with a bike in the street, whether because of traffic, the harassment or the looks. Despite all these hardships, I still insist on riding my bike. To do this, of course, I have to wear loose fitting clothes, but I still dream of wearing whatever I want, like shorts and a nice shirt and move freely in the streets.

Roger Anis

Bildschirmfoto 2020-01-30 um 12.27.18.png

Karoline Kamel / 29 years old, I changed all my style and the way I'm wearing clothes just to walk around the streets. I started to wear loose fitting clothes so that I feel comfortable and secure in the street and I convinced myself that I love this style even if I'm not a big fan of it. Recently, I started to ride a bicycle in the streets of Cairo, and for those who have visited Cairo can imagine how horrible and hard it is to move with a bike in the street, whether because of traffic, the harassment or the looks. Despite all these hardships, I still insist on riding my bike. To do this, of course, I have to wear loose fitting clothes, but I still dream of wearing whatever I want, like shorts and a nice shirt and move freely in the streets.

Roger Anis

Bildschirmfoto 2020-01-30 um 12.28.51.png

Fatima Ali / 25 years old, Going out of my house is such an adventure that I go through every day and I'm ready for it. There is not a single time that I go out in the street without being harassed but it never stopped me from wearing what I like. I believe I'm different and I know that people see me as different and I'm working on letting them respect that I'm different. I got a lot of harassment because of my skin colour; I always hear sexual suggestive because I'm black, which doesn't really annoy me. Yet, one of the things that really annoys me is when someone spits on me because of my skin colour, which already happened a lot of times. The hardest situation I had to go through was when I was walking in the street in Downtown and a child with his mom shouted at me: "Hey you black girl with dirty hair." I had my Rastas and responded to his mother saying that it would be good if you teach him how to behave, but then they gathered around me and started beating me. They repeated harassing and annoying me so many times afterwards and it started to annoy me because I was passing by the same street where they also live, but still I refuse to respond to violence with violence. All of this happened only because I had Rasta dreadlocks, which was strange for society. Some time later after this incident I shaved my head, but people still annoy me in the street because of my skin colour.

Roger Anis

Bildschirmfoto 2020-01-30 um 12.29.02.png

Fatima Ali / 25 years old, Going out of my house is such an adventure that I go through every day and I'm ready for it. There is not a single time that I go out in the street without being harassed but it never stopped me from wearing what I like. I believe I'm different and I know that people see me as different and I'm working on letting them respect that I'm different. I got a lot of harassment because of my skin colour; I always hear sexual suggestive because I'm black, which doesn't really annoy me. Yet, one of the things that really annoys me is when someone spits on me because of my skin colour, which already happened a lot of times. The hardest situation I had to go through was when I was walking in the street in Downtown and a child with his mom shouted at me: "Hey you black girl with dirty hair." I had my Rastas and responded to his mother saying that it would be good if you teach him how to behave, but then they gathered around me and started beating me. They repeated harassing and annoying me so many times afterwards and it started to annoy me because I was passing by the same street where they also live, but still I refuse to respond to violence with violence. All of this happened only because I had Rasta dreadlocks, which was strange for society. Some time later after this incident I shaved my head, but people still annoy me in the street because of my skin colour.

Roger Anis

Bildschirmfoto 2020-01-30 um 12.31.01.png

Hala Nammr / 54 years old, Once I bought a very nice dress that I liked. After I bought it and tried it at home again, I immediately took it off and gave it to my daughter because I realized that I will not be able to wear it in Cairo. The dress was backless and I knew I will not feel comfortable wearing it, unless I was in a country other than Egypt. In a different place, I would wear it without hesitation.

Roger Anis

Bildschirmfoto 2020-01-30 um 12.31.09.png

Hala Nammr / 54 years old, Once I bought a very nice dress that I liked. After I bought it and tried it at home again, I immediately took it off and gave it to my daughter because I realized that I will not be able to wear it in Cairo. The dress was backless and I knew I will not feel comfortable wearing it, unless I was in a country other than Egypt. In a different place, I would wear it without hesitation.

Roger Anis

Bildschirmfoto 2020-01-30 um 12.32.11.png

Amria Mortada / 33 years old, I'm a tomboy. I feel it's more suitable for my character. I don't have any dresses, but every now and then I dream of wearing one and I end up becoming afraid of doing so because I fear the streets. So, I decided not to buy any. I bought a pair of pants, which seemed very normal to me but I was surprised when I got harassed verbally while wearing them. I never understood why this happened, but I was annoyed and was even shocked to know that it happened because of the colour of my pants. In the street, a girl becomes like merchandise, people are allowed to look at her as if she is displayed in a shop. Honestly, I'm still traumatized of what happened to me while wearing these pants and I decided since then never to wear it again. I I don't have the energy to stand against those who harass me.

Roger Anis

Bildschirmfoto 2020-01-30 um 12.32.17.png

Amria Mortada / 33 years old, I'm a tomboy. I feel it's more suitable for my character. I don't have any dresses, but every now and then I dream of wearing one and I end up becoming afraid of doing so because I fear the streets. So, I decided not to buy any. I bought a pair of pants, which seemed very normal to me but I was surprised when I got harassed verbally while wearing them. I never understood why this happened, but I was annoyed and was even shocked to know that it happened because of the colour of my pants. In the street, a girl becomes like merchandise, people are allowed to look at her as if she is displayed in a shop. Honestly, I'm still traumatized of what happened to me while wearing these pants and I decided since then never to wear it again. I I don't have the energy to stand against those who harass me.

Roger Anis

View all 8 items