A photograph by a British Turkish Cypriot has been shortlisted in the Everyday Muslim photography competition, which aims to document the lives of Britain’s diverse Muslim communities.
Titled “Cards and Coffee”, the photograph by Erdal Redjep shows an elderly group of Turkish Cypriot men gathered around a table at a local community centre in London to play their regular afternoon game of cards and drink Turkish coffee. No faces are shown, just their hands, cards, coffee cups, and the table.
Erdal Redjep is a London-based film-maker, photographer and writer who ten years ago created a moving 10-minute documentary called Heartland: A story of Turkish Cypriotness in London. The photograph of the elderly Turkish Cypriot men was taken as part of his Heartland project.
The shortlisted photograph was shared by Everyday Muslim Heritage and Archive Initiative on their social media pages. The organisation’s founder Sadiya Ahmed also shared it on her Facebook post, to which Erdal Redjep replied:
“Thanks for the post – pleased this has been selected for the shortlist. The picture was shot at a small community centre in Peckham that serves an important function for elderly local Cypriots. When this group of men came together at the table with their cards and coffee, the image was already made.”
Cards and coffee’ was entered by Erdal Redjep to the Everyday Muslim photography competition. This photograph shows an elderly group of Turkish Cypriot men gathered around a table at a local community centre to play their regular afternoon game of cards & to drink Turkish coffee. pic.twitter.com/JQQRep9VVA
— EverydayMuslim (@Everyday_Muslim) October 30, 2021
Winners of the nationwide Everyday Muslim competition, which was launched back in March, will be announced in a few weeks’ time.
The digital photography archives of Everyday Muslim are one of the largest public collections of images documenting everyday Muslim life in the UK.
The organisation is constantly seeking to grow this unique collection of visuals, and they are open to contributions at any time from Britain’s 3.5 million Muslims.
To contribute to the archive, please email Everyday Muslim: info@everydaymuslim.org
