Heather Hodgson, Abouna Toma (PEOPLE & PORTRAIT 2025)

Abouna Toma Boktr moved to Australia in 2020 from the Egyptian countryside of Batanon in Monofeya. Although non-English speaking, he lives a full and vibrant life surrounded by loving and reverent family and friends in the Coptic Orthodox community. He was an agricultural engineer before he served as a priest for 37 years. I was honoured to photograph him inside the beautiful Coptic church in Canberra.

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