Mohamed Attef is an Immersive Media Producer and founder of Egypt VR, an immersive media agency based in Cairo. Founded in 2011, they provide full-stack VR services from planning pre-production, execution and post-production of immersive media including 360 video experiences, VR documentaries and 360 Virtual Tours.
Mohamed recently joined Blend Media for exclusive representation of his extensive catalogue of 360 panoramic images that capture the incredible archaeological sites of Ancient Egypt.
As a photographer what made you focus more on 360 imagery rather than traditional 2D?
Being able to teleport the viewer anywhere you want, sometimes to remote or limited access locations is what hooked me with 360 imagery. Giving the viewer of my work the freedom to explore and be his/her own director and decide where to look, which I found a challenging way for storytelling - you capture the 360 scenes and you have no particular frame/composition, but instead you have what's called orientation of your scene plus height and distance from the subject, so you need to craft your own recipe to be able to tell a story for the viewer.
What cameras and software do you use to create your 360 panoramas and virtual tours?
I use Fanotec Nodal Ninja 6, Sony Alpha series and I own a couple of them and many fisheye lenses on a Sony mount. I stitch my panoramas using PTGUI and for virtual tours... it depends on the job but I have KRPANO and Pano2vr installed on my computer and I switch between them according to the requirements of each tour.
I want to showcase the greatness of my ancestors to the world in VR.
Your collection on Blend Media covers some incredible archaeological sites and museums. How do you get such great access to these sites and what is the trick to photographing them so accurately and thoroughly?
I started to build up my VR collection of ancient Egyptian sites almost 9 years ago and over the years I kept adding so I now have the extensive and varied collection I have today. I had a purpose which was to use VR technology in my cultural heritage documentation project in Egypt. I'm motivated by a passion to invest in resources to produce such a wonderful VR collection for 9 consecutive years. I want to showcase the greatness of my ancestors to the world in VR.
Tell us more about the collection
There are about 1000 x 360 panoramas uploaded on the Blend Media platform now, at minimum resolution of 10k x 5k. They are carefully shot with virtual tours development in mind, trying not to miss a spot in each site. To give the user fully immersive feeling of the walk through in VR. Covering most of the ancient Egyptians museums, temples and Royal tombs in Egypt, also there are National parks, protected Areas and UNESCO World heritage sites.
From 11 different governances in Egypt, you will find a variety of categories covering all touristic and historical attractions in the country.
Your collection showcases places most people can only ever dream of visiting but they are all on your doorstep. What are your favourite locations you have photographed or created Virtual Tours of?
Hands down the Queen Nefertari Tomb. It's the most beautiful, well-preserved tomb I have ever seen in my life.
If you would like to see Mohamed's collection click here and if you would like to license any of his panoramas from the Blend platform then please get in touch with us at: licensing@blend.media