Egyptian Model & Photographer Arrested Over Photoshoot
An Egyptian plus size model and dancer Salma Elshimy and an Egyptian photographer Houssam Mohammad were recently arrested over charges of unauthorized photography at the Saqqara Necropolis, 30 kilometers from the capital city of Cairo. While those are the reported charges for the arrest and the bail that was set and paid at 500 Egyptian pounds, the publicised reasoning also includes the model’s supposedly inaccurate and “disrespectful” attire.
Houssam Mohammad took a series of shots and a videoshoot of Elshimy at the famed necropolis while she posed in a ancient-era body-hugging white dress with belt detailing, a matching Egyptian broad collar necklace known as a Usekh/Wesekh, a headpiece reminiscent of an Egypian crown, golden wrist cuffs, and brown strappy sandals. She also posed with a pair of black and gold striped props. Upon the arrest, the model/dancer took down the pictures from her Instagram account and soon after, the account was reported hacked, after which she created another new account.
While this is nothing new to happen in Egypt, viewers, fans, and supporters of the duo spoke out in anger over comments and news articles, commenting on the fact that the dressing was nowhere near indecent and was in fact normal and reminiscent of ancient Egyptian attire. Meanwhile, some compatriots agreed with authorities over the photographs, going so far as to calling them “disgusting” and unrepresentative of their culture. The latter might stand true for current era culture, however, hieroglyphics and ancient Egyptian art proves that the dressing of the model was quite accurate to the one from over 2000 years ago.
We agree with the photographer Mohammad when he says that “if a thin girl was in Salma’s place, the issue would be very normal.” The discrimination and sexualisation of plus size or curvier women is rather stronger when they dress the same as their thinner, less curvier counterparts.
What do you think about this? Let us know and send this to your friends too!
Credit: Salma Elshimy
