Old-Fashioned Religion

Cairo, Egypt

Touring Egypt (5): There are many, many things a tourist should do in and around Cairo at night. We have all heard of the nightly sound-and-light show at the pyramids in nearby Giza, shopping and tea in the Khan el-Khalili, and more. (Look for future posts of those fun things.) The evening “whirling Dervish” show at the Wikala al-Ghouri also deserves a spot on the “must see” list. The Wikala is a crafts and artists cooperative by day, but in early evening several times a week the courtyard is opened to tourists who pay a small fee to watch a show by the local Sufi sect. It is just after dark; the evening is warm; there is just a hint of incense and spicy food in the air; the music is haunting, beautiful, and middle-eastern; and the display of balance and artistry is awe-inspiring. Actually, it is religion-inspiring — which is the point after all, since this “performance” is also an exercise in concentration and focus in devotion to the one true God, based on the ancient customs of this Sufi sect. The audience is of course packed with foreigners, but surprisingly there are also quite a few people who appear to be locals. In this magical setting, everyone is friendly and the spectacle brings the crowd together.

About these photos:
I knew photography would be a challenge at this twilight performance. The show takes place in a courtyard under a high awning and after dark. The lighting is of course controlled and varies to accentuate the performance. The fabulous 16th-century building and arcades surrounding the courtyard are mostly in shadow. Flash photography is not appropriate in this setting: Even if allowed, a flash would change the mood, preventing the camera from capturing the “feel” of the moment. (I imagine flashes would also disturb the performers and know this is a religious observance, which I very much want to share and am determined to respect.) Finally, there is the challenge of capturing movement: This is, after all, about “whirling Dervishes,” so I wanted to show some movement blur while keeping the overall picture in-focus.

Anticipating the challenge, I insisted we arrive at the Wikala early. Entering the courtyard, we moved to the side about half-way back; I did not want to be too close to the stage so that I could have the freedom to go wide and capture the whole stage or to zoom in on the performers. I asked an attendant if I could set up a tripod: he enthusiastically agreed, pointing me to the side of the audience area where my tripod would be out of the way but could still be extended to get above the crowd. (I asked, but was not permitted to shoot from the balcony surrounding the courtyard for a higher viewpoint.) I set up my tripod by the end chair in a row, attached my remote-release cable, and planned to stand in an out-of-the way archway next to the camera. (My darling and ever-enabling wife, Nancy, took the next seat to “block” for me.) Before the audience space filled I “dialed in” focus distance and tried to arrange things so that I would not have to move much during the performance. I wanted to respect the performance and not distract my fellow audience members (who, after all, also paid and took time to be there). My bag was positioned on the seat in easy reach of where I stood, open with fresh memory cards and places for the three most likely lenses (wide-zoom, extreme zoom, and fastest prime lens) arranged so that they would be easily found by touch without groping around. The camera was set to make no beeps or noises, with fixed ISO and aperture-priority exposure. Not knowing what to expect, I cranked exposure compensation down a little to permit faster shutter speeds and manage flare from bright colors in the stage lights. I planned to adjust for brightness, depth-of-field, and desired movement blur by changing aperture settings (a quick thumb-wheel spin on my Nikon camera). Focus was set to “manual” to avoid autofocus “hunting” in the dark as the performers moved around the stage. I experimented with several lens and aperture changes throughout the performance, but I think I pulled it off without distracting or stepping in front of other audience members around me.

(above: Nikon D200, Nikkor wide-zoom at 40mm, ISO 400, f/4.5, 1/30 sec. and exposure compensation at -4/3ev.)

(below: Nikon D200, Nikkor zoom at 60mm, ISO 400, f/5, 1/60 sec. and exposure compensation at -4/3ev.)

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 16:30 PM. It is filed under Land & Air, thePhotoTourist and tagged with al-Ghouri, Cairo, Dervish, Dervish show, Egypt, evening, Ghourija, Islamic Cairo, night, not_uw, Old Cairo, performance, stage, Sufi, Touring Egypt, Whirling Dervish, wikala, Wikala al-Ghouri. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.