Chai Khana, with the support of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, announces an open call for photographers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and conflict affected regions to develop photo projects as part of a workshop series by Heba Khamis.

The workshops will focus on structuring a visual story, finding a storytelling direction, exploring more collaborative techniques, and editing.

Nine photographers will be chosen to attend the workshops through the open call and the pitches submitted. Photographers will work on their submitted projects throughout the workshops.

The workshops will start at the end of December and last until mid February. A detailed agenda will be provided after the final selection of photographers.

Photographers can submit a new project idea or an ongoing project. Projects that have already been published will not be accepted. 

The final photo projects  will be published at Chai Khana.

Chai Khana will cover travel, accommodation, and other costs related to the project, including film and scans if using an analogue camera.

Selected candidates will be informed by December 20th. 

About the mentor: 

Heba Khamis is an Egyptian independent visual researcher who concentrates on sensitive, tabooed social issues related to the body. In 2018-2019 her work was recognized at the World Press Photo contest. Heba’s work has also received other international awards and she was a 2020 Catchlight Visual Leaders fellow. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in painting, Heba shifted careers to  work as a photojournalist. She covered two revolutions in Egypt and their aftermath. After studying storytelling in Denmark and volunteering in Uganda, she decided to dedicate her career to long term visual storytelling. Through developing her storytelling visual language, she considers herself to be a visual researcher. She follows the ethics of traditional documentary form but believes the need to care more about the subjects while telling their stories. Beyond her usual photographic approach, she adds different elements and mediums to her stories created by the people she is photographing. Recently, Heba has been interested in art therapy and she would like to involve the subjects of her projects, giving them the chance to express themselves and interact in telling their own story by adding their drawings alongside her photographs.