Nabil Boutros

Nabil Boutros was born in Cairo in 1954 and lives in Paris and Cairo. He studied at the School of Decorative Arts in Cairo and then studied painting at l’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He worked as a painter and set and lighting designer for theatre and advertising clients before launching himself as a photographer in 1986. He now works in both fields as well as designing exhibitions in France and Egypt and teaching photography workshops in Africa and the Middle East.

In 1990 he returned to Cairo and began photographing aspects of contemporary Egyptian society for which he felt great empathy and affection: street portraits, the music scene, Cairo’s nightlife and cafés, the city during Ramadan and the rites of the Coptic community, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. From 2004, he started a series on what bothered him about Egypt, which became “Egypt is a Modern Country!” (2006) and “Egyptians” (2010). He has also made several in-depth photo studies, including “Bedouins in Jordan” (2008) and “Hammams in Sanaa, Yemen” (2010).

His most recent solo shows include “Portraits Latents”, Rencontres Internationales Photographiques de Fès, Morocco and Museu Historia Natural, Luanda, Angola (2009); “Visages d’Égypte”, Musée de Cahors Henri-Martin, France (2009); “Bedouins Today in Jordan”, Dar el-Anda Gallery, Amman (2008); “Urgences: Portraits of D. Niangouna”, Festival d’Avignon, France (2007); “GlobaLocal”, French Cultural Centre Alexandria (2006); “Portraits Latents”, at the French Cultural Centres of Alexandria, Cairo, Libreville – Gabon, and Malabo – Equatorial Guinea, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo, and Festival Francophonies de Limoges, France (2005-2006); “Cairo/Alexandria”, French Cultural Centre, Alexandria and Karim Francis Gallery, Cairo (2004-2005); and “Egyptian Nocturnes”, French Cultural Centre, Cairo and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (1999).

Recent group shows include “Al Qahira: Images Of Cairo”, Rose Issa Projects, London (2010); “Geographias Intimas”, Fondacion Marcelino Botin, Santander (2009); “La ville et au-delà” at the “Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie de Bamako”, Musée National du Mali and Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona (2007-2009); “Le Porte del Mediterraneo”, Palazzo Piozzo, Rivoli (2008); “Act of Faith”, Noorderlicht Fotofestival, Groningen, the Netherlands (2007); “19 Miradas”, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporàneo, Seville (2006); “Regards des photographes arabes contemporains”, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, Kunstforeningen GL Strand, Copenhagen and Musée NAMC, Alger, Algeria (2005-2008); “Nazar: Images from the Arab World”, Fotofest, Houston, the Aperture Gallery, New York and Noorderlicht, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands (2004-2005); “Nabil Boutros: Monography – Bamako à La Réunion”, St Denis de La Réunion, La Reunion (2004); “Musulmanes, musulmans...”, Grande Halle de La Villette, Paris (2004); “Nabil Boutros: Monography – Made in Africa”, Fotografia, Milan (2004); “Nabil Boutros: Monography – Copts of the Nile” at the “Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie de Bamako”, as above (2003); “Le Voyageur”, French Cultural Centre, Alexandria (2002); “Crossings”, Collectif 12, Mantes-la-Jolie, France (2001); “Impressions d’Afrique du Nord”, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris (1998); “Alexandrie Revisitée”, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris (1998); “Il y a 200 ans: les savants en Egypte”, Le Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris (1998); and “In/Sight: African Photographers from 1940 to the Present”, the Guggenheim Museum, New York (1996).

Boutros’ photographs are in the public collections of the Institut du Monde Arabe and FNAC Galeries, both in Paris; Centre Méditerranéen de la Photographie, Bastia and the Musée du Carré Médicis, St Maur.

He has also published the artist books “Egypte” with Christophe Ayad (Editions du Chêne, 2010); “Bédouins aujourd’hui” (French Cultural Centre of Amman, 2008); “Coptes du Nil” (Editions Archange Minautore, 2007); “Portraits Latents” (Editions, Afaa, 2006); “Mégapoles: petite planète” (Editions Le Serpent à Plumes, 1998); “Alexandrie Revisitée”, with Jacques Hassoun (Institut du Monde Arabe/Revue Noire, 1998); and “Impressions d’Afrique du Nord”, with Nabil Naoum (Institut du Monde Arabe/Revue Noire, 1998).

His most recent theatre designs include the set and lighting for “Trojans” at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina with the Egyptian director Hassan el-Gueretly (2010) and “Malade imaginaire” at the National Theatre of Yemen with the director Adel Hakim of the Théâtre des Quartiers d’Ivry (2010).