Photographer Nour El Refai spent more than a year documenting life among Egypt's Nubian community, capturing daily rituals, art, meals, social gatherings and celebrations.
The Nubians are one of the oldest civilizations in the world, having lived alongside the Nile river in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan for thousands of years.
Today, most Nubians live on the fringes of society in Egypt. Nubian communities have been forced to leave their homes near the river to make way for reservoirs and dams several times in the past 100 years.
In the 1960s, more than 50,000 Nubians were forced to vacate their lands and offered a place in desert settlements near Kom Umbo during the construction of the famous Aswan High Dam. Some families moved to the settlements, while others sought refuge on islands north or in villages in Gharb Aswan.
With his project,which is part of the VSCO Artist Initiative, photographer El Refai aims to document the traditions these families still observe despite the dramatic changes their communities went through in past decades.
For more photos of life in the Nubian community, check out El Refai's photo journal at grid.vsco.co/journal/the-nubians.