According to the jury, Amina Kadous submitted an intelligent, multilayered project that connected her family’s history with larger cultural, economic, and environmental concerns. “White Gold” directly relates to the theme of Human – Nature for several reasons, representing an intersection between a personal narrative, a country’s history, humanity, and the environment. The project is unique in that it is both photographic and research-based, and Amina has a distinctive point of view exploring a family’s transformation through the lens of cotton.

Amina’s cotton threads extend back three generations. Her great-grandfather was a silk and wool merchant in Egypt and was among the first to lead the initial stages of the popular textile manufacturing trade in his city. Amina describes her project as follows: “The story of cotton is a story of human seed, a reflection of Egypt and myself. Through this work, I aim to reconnect and recollect what is left of our withering seeds of cotton, exploring what used to be one of the most important industries embedded in our collective fabrics. It is an ongoing project that aims to open up discourses around land use and preservation, origin, and memory.”

By observing Amina’s work, whether through the photographs she takes or when she transfers family photos onto handmade cotton paper, we gain insights into how the cotton industry has impacted her life and how a significant part of the issue she tackles arises from nature itself. In that sense, “White Gold” speaks to all of humanity, and awarding Amina’s work is a recognition of her incredible capacity for linking different aspects, resulting in such a solid project.