Cairo before the revolution
by Holger Biermann
I walked through this seemingly endless city in may 2009. These photographs suggest more than any of my words could possibly tell. It’s the gaze of a stranger, an aimless tourist prowling on the streets.
I weren’t on familiar terms with Cairo’s inhabitants. Their ideas, political or private views remained unknown to me. Mubarak ruled and that was it. To think of a radical change or a revolution seemed improbable to me then.
Once I got arrested for snapping a huge dark limousine in the parliament district. The cops confiscated my film and my camera before they locked me up. The precincts room was small and damp but orderly. I was sitting on a wooden chair and watched an incessant company of flies. After 2 hours the officer returned my camera and released me with an admonition back to the streets. But otherwise?
I remember vividly that the oppressive heat and a permanent diarrhea were too often master of the situation..
Group Project
SAFARI SIZE
Photographs from Cairo
Four photographic positions show a different and personal view on the Egyptian Metropol Cairo.
A subtle and personal presentation of reality connects the photographic document in all four works.
