Here, the Doors Don't Know Me - Mohamed Mahdy

A powerful portrait of a disappearing community in Alexandria, Egypt told from within. Combines photography, personal letters, and archives to explore memory and loss. This publication is the result of the III Premi Mediterrani Albert Camus Incipiens, organized by the Trobades & Premis Mediterranis Albert Camus of Menorca.

Initiated in 2016, the project follows—through photography, community archives, handwritten letters, and testimonies—the residents of Al-Max, a historic fishing neighborhood in Alexandria, Egypt, now facing displacement.

As urban development erases its daily life and traditions, Mohamed Mahdy builds the work with the residents themselves: families share archives, write final letters before leaving their homes, and shape how they are represented. The project reflects on how memory, identity, and belonging endure when a place is physically
lost. The Premi Mediterrani Albert Camus Incipiens amplifies the work of emerging
authors who embody Camus’ vision to “give voice to the voiceless.” In its third edition, the jury—Monica Allende, Carla Fibla, and Tanya Habjouqa—selected Here, the Doors Don’t Know Me for Mahdy’s deep engagement with the community, his inventive visual storytelling, and his sensitivity in portraying shared histories.

Inside the book are ten years of photographs, family archives, handwritten letters from residents, and poems and writings by Fred Ritchin, Sandra, and myself.