Riad Shehata (; died in 1942) was an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

. He was the official photographer of the

King of Egypt King of Egypt (), officially referred to as, King of Egypt, Sovereign of Nubia, Sudan, Kordofan, and Darfur, was the title used by the Head of State in Egypt between 1922 and 1953. When the United Kingdom issued the Unilateral Declaration of Eg ...

, in charge of photographing royal events such as marriages, enthronement ceremonies and formal parties. He was the first Egyptian photographer to travel abroad; he went to

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

where he studied the art of

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

extensively. He travelled around the world in order to take rare photographs. His studio was located in downtown

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

's Opera Square. After his death in 1942, the studio remained open under the same name. The Riad Shehata Studio was notably charged by

King Farouk Farouk I (; ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936 and reigning until his ...

with photographing in minute detail the extensive damage resulting from the devastating 1952 Cairo Fire. In 2003, 275 rare photographs from the Riad Shehata Studio were bought by a private collector from the photographer's family.

References

Bibliography

* 1942 deaths 20th-century Egyptian photographers Year of birth missing {{Photographer-stub