“Photography is not just a hobby for me. It is an actual way of life. It’s not just how you hold a camera and snap a picture. It’s the way that you see life and everything around you.”
So reads a letter written by Mahmoud Abou Zeid, an Egyptian freelance photojournalist also known as “Shawkan,” has spent more than 1000 days behind bars.
In the letter more than a year ago, Shawkan described the physical and psychological toll that prison has taken on him, but maintained that he simply wants to be free to practice photojournalism: “My passion is photography, but I am paying the price for my passion with my life. Without it, a part of me is missing.”
Shawkan was arrested on August 14, 2013, while he was covering clashes between Egyptian security forces and supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo.
Image: Freedom for Shawkan/Aymen Aref Saad