Hiya wa houa

The intriguing photograph of a grandmother proudly posing nude for the famed Cairo-based photographer, Van Leo, spurs a visit, conversation and foray into his studio. Born in 1921 to an Armenian family that moved to Egypt in 1924, Van Leo was not only the kind of stellar photographer-craftsman that his generation emblemised but also one of the few among them to consider himself a full-fledged artist.