Dubai expat gives away cameras to help people realise their dreams

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Dubai expat gives away cameras to help people realise their dreams
Kareem Farid

Dubai - The top 23 people who receive the most amount of likes will be chosen as the winners, as well as those with the best photographs

By Sarwat Nasir

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Published: Tue 13 Jun 2017, 11:24 PM

Last updated: Wed 14 Jun 2017, 1:37 AM

A Dubai expat's kind-hearted initiative to give away a free camera to amateur photographers has gone viral on social media, sparking more than 5,000 tweets in Arabic with the hashtag #DreamWithKareemFarid.
Kareem Farid's initiative was inspired by his own story, when his friend gave him a camera for free so he could cover the Gaza conflict in 2013. Kareem, who now works in public relations, asked people on June 10 to upload their photography on social media along with what they aspire to.
Since then, thousands of people have shared their photography samples on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as part of the campaign, which is aimed at Egyptian youth who dream of becoming photographers, but cannot afford cameras by themselves.
"At the age of 19, I dropped out of college. I was studying Computer Science, but it wasn't for me. My dream was to get into journalism. One day, I got a very big opportunity - to cover the Gaza war, but I didn't have a camera. My friend offered me his for free. He didn't ask me for anything in return," Farid said.
"Today, I thought of my own story and it gave me inspiration. Cameras in Egypt are very expensive. And the youth are very frustrated with the situation there. So, this is to help them dream and to provide cameras to the people who need it."
The top 23 people who receive the most amount of likes will be chosen as the winners, as well as those with the best photographs. Three people will win cameras and 20 will be trained on videography and entrepreneurship.
One photographer, Salma ElGhazaly, uploaded her photographs on Twitter using the hashtag #DreamWithKareemFarid. "One of my biggest dreams is to open a gallery and people enter it and be fascinated with my photographs," she tweeted with the photos.
Lujain, @theironrain, also posted photographs and tweeted: "Maybe photography can go from hobby to hobby and career".
Yasmeena Abonaso tweeted: "I always see that photographs is a wide reflection of what your eyes see and where beauty lies beyond the camera."
Canon's Eygpt, Central and North Africa spoksperson also contacted Kareem after seeing the popular hashtag and offered a D1300 Canon Camera to the winner. "The best thing about an experience isn't the result, but the experience itself. I'm extremely happy with my experience #DreamWithKareemFarid. I didn't expect people to share all their dreams," Farid wrote on Facebook.
"I didn't expect that thousands of people would get excited and write about their dreams. All that occupies my mind now is how I can help you achieve your dreams so you can continue to dream after the competition results come out and how each participant can win something out of it," Farid added. The winners will be announced on June 17.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com


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