© National Portrait Gallery 2025
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Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2007 Finalist
Mamdouh Habib is an Egyptian born Australian Muslim known for his incarceration at Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. He was born in 1956 in Egypt, moved to Australia in 1980, became a citizen here, married Maha, had four children, and taught Islam. After being released without charge he ran as an independent political candidate in the New South Wales legislative election in 2007, but failed to gain a seat after polling 5% in his electorate. The picture shows him in his natural demeanour, lighting a cigarette in Sydney.
Photography is the most pervasive and popular medium for portraiture and makes a natural fit with the Gallery, being a natural extension of the Gallery's longstanding commitment to photography as a contemporary portrait medium.
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