Photo essay: Mohamed Hassan’s Our Hidden Room
In a new book, the Wales-based photographer uses images made by his late father to confront loss and keep their relationship alive
Throughout his life, Mohamed Hassan’s father, Hassan Ibrahim, kept an extensive photographic archive. Hassan describes him as a talented portrait maker who often disappeared into his darkroom. His collection of images spanned his childhood, his years in the Egyptian army and beyond.
Ibrahim died in Alexandria in 2007, following a long struggle with mental illness. In the aftermath of his death, Hassan’s mother — who believed figurative art was forbidden — burned many of his negatives. Hassan, however, has since used the images that survived as the foundation of a deeply moving personal project titled Our Hidden Room.
Following a trip to Egypt, he began to weave together the remaining photographs with text and new images of his own. Published in book form earlier this year, the resulting work is Hassan’s way of honouring his father’s memory and keeping his legacy alive.
“My goal was to rebuild the archive,” says Hassan, who has lived in Wales for nearly 20 years. “It’s not just about him, and it’s not just about me — it’s about both of us, side by side.”
Hassan says he delayed starting the project for years, wary of exposing too much of himself and his family. The act of bringing the book together became his way of reaching out to his father. Through photography, he has found a way of speaking into the silence, using the camera both to face what he has lost and to stay connected to the relationship he and his father shared.
When asked about the emotional weight of the project, Hassan explains that the process has made him stronger and that the work reflects resilience and a willingness to confront grief head-on.
Hassan has also been touched by the response to Our Hidden Room. People from Argentina, Chile and Mexico have got in touch with him to share their thoughts on the book. Selected images have been exhibited internationally and the project has now been shortlisted for the Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook awards.
“Maybe this is the best thing I’ve done in my life: to work on it and to help other people,” he says. “If someone has a problem, maybe there’s a way to get better and fight that trauma.”
