صاحبي

I first saw Hamza's horse by a lake near Aswan, on the bank of the Nile, and started taking photos of it. Hamza came over. He was so happy that I liked his horse, and he invited me for coffee with his family.

Over coffee he kept telling me stories about his horse and how much he loves it. Then he said he'd show me what good friends they are. He got on, showed me what he can do, and asked me to take his photo.

I still think about Hamza: how generous and kind he was, how much he loved that horse, and how talented he is.

In Egyptian Arabic, sahbi (صاحبي) means "my friend". It comes from sahib, a word that can mean both companion and owner. Hamza owns his horse, but when he talked about it, he talked about a friend. So I called this story Sahbi.