Photography has gained immense popularity in Sudan especially in recent years after professional cameras and mobile phones became accessible to everyone. Photographers have taken the streets as their new studio and the building's facades have become the canvas for artists. This new trend has given architecture a new face to the public; while many buildings were forgotten or overlooked, street photography is shedding a new light on architecture and urban spaces and how people see and interact with them.

"As a photographer, street photography has its unique joy, and the streets are the best place to link the human to the surrounding space resulting in an environmental portrait that tells the complete story. It is definitely a strong means to educate the public about our immediate environment," said Ala Kheir, Founder of Sudanese Photographers.

Image © Ala Kheir

Image © Ala Kheir

Image © Ala Kheir

Image © Ala Kheir

Image © Ala Kheir

Image © Khalid Abdel Rahman

Artists such as Khalid Abdel Rahman are showing a different, more artistic side of architecture that we don’t usually see in regular architecture photography. Khalid has been taking pictures of simple abstract compositions on his everyday walk through the city, focusing on the aesthetics of details hidden in the urban fabric that mostly go unnoticed. He uses architecture photography as a visual reference for his urban landscape artwork.

Image © Khalid Abdel Rahman

Image © Khalid Abdel Rahman

Image © Khalid Abdel Rahman

Street photographers are also highlighting the patterns and common unnoticed styles between unconnected buildings. Symmetry and geometrical patterns are a visual treat to see, understanding the relationship between architecture and the human factor. 

Hisham Abdulaziz, a graphic design student, began mobile photography in 2012, and tries to show the diversity of the people and the culture and how it can be reflected on the buildings and facades showing behind them.

Image © Hisham Abdulaziz

Image © Hisham Abdulaziz

Image © Hisham Abdulaziz

Social media, such as Instagram, made it quite accessible for photographers to share their everyday urban life, Muhammed Elsamani an environmental portrait photographer who started photography in 2013. He captures the everyday person in the urban context, seeing how people interact with buildings and public spaces, can be very enlightening to the urban designer.

Image © Muhammed Elsamani

Image © Muhammed Elsamani

Image © Muhammed Elsamani

Image © Muhammed Elsamani

There are dozens of aspiring and established street photographers in Sudan, and through their lenses, they open a much-needed window into life in a country that has been locked away from the world’s eyes for decades.

Top image © Hisham Abdulaziz