NYTimes: Moises Saman's Egypt's Choice

Presidential election fever has been gripping Egypt for months, and it'll perhaps come to a conclusion in the coming few days...or in another few weeks, if a runoff is the case.

Along with many millions of Egyptians, I couldn't believe my eyes when watching the first ever presidential debate in the Middle East took place earlier this month. Yes, it was flawed...yes, the two frontrunners went overboard in hyperbole and off topic attacks one each other... but nowhere else in the Arab world, has such a spectacle ever been seen before.

Yes, Egypt's political transition has been farcical, messy, bizarre, chaotic, violent, unpredictable, and serious, ....however after centuries of Pharaonic kingdoms, various foreign occupations, colonialism,  royalty and dictatorships, Egyptians were now experiencing the teething pains of democracy. I raise my hands in wonder when I read articles by educated journalists and pundits who claim that after 30 years of Mubarak's regime, Egypt is experiencing democracy. It's not 30 years...but over 2500 years!

In recognition of this critical milestone in Egypt's (and in the world's) history, I feature Moises Saman's Egypt's Choice as published in The New York Times.

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18 Days In Egypt

A power struggle of epic proportions between various political factions is currently underway in Egypt...essentially a troika of conflicting interests, the power struggle is manifesting itself overtly and covertly. Overtly, the battle for power is over the presidency, and is between the Muslim Brotherhood, (a comparatively pragmatic Islamic movement) the Salafists (a regressive Islamist faction), and the military establishment. The secular forces seem to have been marginalized, even though it was its youth who sparked and carried through the revolution in 2011.

That said, it's not over till the fat lady sings...and there will be more twists and turns to this story as it enfolds over the days and weeks to come.

I thought the 18DaysIn Egypt documentary being worked on by filmmaker and journalist Jigar Mehta is working on a new kind of documentary is especially timely in such a fluid political situation. It's a crowd-sourced interactive documentary project aimed at capturing the history of the revolution in Egypt.

The context of this documentary is simple enough. In the 18 days of Egypt's uprising that began on January 25, 2011 and that ended with the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, thousands of Egyptians turned to their cell phones, digital cameras or social media sites to document the events unfolding in Cairo and across the country.

Tapping into this wealth of material, American documentary filmmaker and journalist Jigar Mehta co-founded 18DaysInEgypt.

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A Year Ago...Egypt

Photo  Ed Ou - All Rights Reserved

In remembrance of those who fell in Tahrir and elsewhere. The Egyptian revolution started a year ago today, and is still ongoing.

And to the naysayers, neo-cons and the rest of the mindless individuals who prefer Arab dictatorships, and see democracy (as imperfect as it may be) taking its first steps in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East as an existentialist threat, go screw yourselves.

And to those who are optimistic, here are, via Foreign Policy Magazine, the young Egyptians who will eventually succeed in achieving what they started.

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Ed Ou: The Egyptian Youth

Photo  Ed Ou-All Rights Reserved

The news that "Islamists" seem to have won a majority in Egypt's first Parliament since the ouster of Mubarak is being reported by the US media in disquieting vocabulary, especially since it came at the expense of the liberal parties and youth activists who set off the revolution.  Many secular Egyptians are expressing alarm and anxiety at the result of the initial round of Parliamentary elections, while others shrug off these results by predicting that the Muslim Brotherhood (as one of the factions described as Islamists) may well have a majority, but will either choose or be forced to exert its political clout in a moderate fashion.

Ed Ou has covered the momentous events in Egypt ever since the start of the revolution, and has recently featured his work in progress of The Egyptian Youth.

Ed is a Canadian photojournalist who has been working in the Middle East, former Soviet Union, Africa, and the Americas. He started his career as a teenager, covering the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and the fall of the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu, Somalia. He worked for Reuters and the Associated Press, and was also an intern at the New York Times.

He is the recipient of a Global Vision Award from POYi, a 1st Place Contemporary Issues award from World Press Photo, and other recognition from the Overseas Press Club, Ian Parry Scholarship, Best of Photojournalism, PDN Photo Annual, UNICEF, among others. He has been selected for a Getty Images Editorial Grant, PDN 30 Under 30, and took part in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. He was recently awarded the City of Perpignan Young Reporter Award.

via PhotojournalismLinks

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POV: Moises Saman And Cairo Undone

Photo  Moises Saman-All Rights Reserved  

How wrong I was! I always dismissed the idea of photographing street life in Cairo by saying that there was nothing to photograph there...not much color, no vibrancy....but that began to change after the January Revolution. Was it a subconscious rejection of the then-prevailing environment? Or simply because I was blase about photographing in my own backyard...albeit one that I left for more than 30 years? Was it both? Perhaps.

That admission being made, I have to clarify that I speak only of street life rather than particular cultural subject matters, such as documenting Sufi rituals such as those I photographed a few years ago.

What changed my mind is the brilliant photo essay in The New York Times titled Cairo Undone by Moises Saman.  The photo essay (it's really a gallery as there's no storyline nor timeline) is of snapshots (I use this term very respectfully) of daily life in Cairo...the gritty, the edgy, the incomprehensible, the political and the anachronisms that dominate this teeming city.

I intended to post this as soon as I saw the photographs, but I was in Siem Reap and just couldn't find the time. I have viewed and re-viewed this work many times, and it revived in me a hunger to document facets of this city. Is it a nostalgic yearning? I doubt it...I don't think that way. It's similar to my documenting the Sufi rituals in various countries...that is nothing more than an intellectual and aesthetic pursuit.

It's the same for Cairo...nothing more nothing less. But time will tell.

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Global Post: Egypt's Women Of Revolution

Photo  Elizabeth D. Herman-All Rights Reserved

While I'm here in Siem Reap, I am following the events in Cairo with mixed feelings...feelings of pride and anxiety. The outcome of the 'rebooted' Egyptian revolution is impossible to predict, but some pundits have describe the current events in Tahrir Square as Egyptians trying to reclaim their January 25 revolution from the military.

There are a number of recent photo essays from Tahrir Square, but I thought I'd feature the work of Global Post's Elizabeth D. Herman titled Egypt: Women of the Revolution.

This is a compelling gallery of 18 photographs along with captions that tell us the back stories of each photograph. Last month, Elizabeth Herman spoke to 13 Egyptian women about the medias coverage of womens involvement in the Egyptian revolution. Their roles were varied, as were their experiences and reactions to the revolution, with some having actively joined the movement and others forced to do so by circumstance. All have much to say about how it has affected their lives, and how their experiences are similar to  and different from those of other Egyptian women.

As is customary whenever readers' comments on the news of the Egyptian revolution appear in The New York Times, Islamophobia and political agendas raise their ugly heads. Comments describing the Egyptian revolutionaries as 'savages', and others hoping that the upheaval would not harm Israel (presumably this being much more important than Egyptians having basic human rights) are sent to the newspaper and published without consideration.

And, of course...we have some of the US press indulging the American proclivity for inward introspection, narcissism, and insularity. Just take a look at TIME's cover for its US edition as compared to the rest of the world's.

Both hilarious and sad at the same time.

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The Revolution Thru The Lens of Fady Ezzet, An Egyptian Photojournalist

I've featured the work of young Egyptian photojournalists working for the local newspapers, who not only documented the Tahrir uprisings, but who also participated in the revolution.

For why I'm doing this, you can read my earlier post The Revolution...This Time Through The Lenses Of Home-Grown Egyptian Photojournalists.

This is the fourth and last part in the series, and is the work of Fady Ezzet, an Egyptian photojournalist who also works for El Shorouk Newspaper. He graduated from Cairo University, and is a full time photojournalist.

Having followed the series, I noticed that Fady's images are more in the thick of violence than the others. I presume being a male allowed him to take more risks than the other three women.

For each slideshow in the series, I chose the popular "Enta Omri" or "You Are My Life" from the repertory of the legendary Um Kulthum, the Egyptian singer who was the incomparable voice of her country. I owe the idea to a wonderful multimedia essay titled Spring by Shirin Neshat in the New York Times, who also used it as a metaphor for the revolution.

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The Revolution Thru The Lens of Lobna Tarek, An Egyptian Photojournalist

I've started to feature the work of young Egyptian photojournalists working for the local newspapers, who not only documented the Tahrir uprisings, but who also participated in the revolution.

For why I'm doing this, you can read my earlier post The Revolution...This Time Through The Lenses Of Home-Grown Egyptian Photojournalists.

This is the third part in the series, and is the work of Lobna Tarek, an Egyptian photojournalist who just started to work for El Shorouk Newspaper a few months ago. She holds a degree in Communications from Cairo University, and at just 22 has taken up photojournalism as a full time career.

Imagine having just joined the profession and being plunged in a historic and momentous event within weeks of starting her career!

For each slideshow in the series, I chose the popular "Enta Omri" or "You Are My Life" from the repertory of the legendary Um Kulthum, the Egyptian singer who was the incomparable voice of her country. I owe the idea to a wonderful multimedia essay titled Spring by Shirin Neshat in the New York Times, who also used it as a metaphor for the revolution.

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The Revolution...This Time Through The Lenses Of Home-Grown Egyptian Photojournalists

Photo  Eman Helal-All Rights Reserved

Since the recent effort by BagNews's Assignment Egypt (Analyzing News Photo From the 18 Days Revolution) wasn't about featuring the work of Egyptian photojournalists, I thought I'd solicit submissions from young home-grown Egyptian photojournalists working for the local newspapers, who not only documented the Tahrir uprisings, but who also participated in the revolution...in their revolution, for this blog instead.

These photojournalists are far from being "khawagas" (a colloquial nickname for non-Egyptians), they are not well-known in the Western media, they are -to borrow a word from the US military- "grunts"...hard-working people with little support except their own small local network, and who've been mistreated and distrusted by the Mubarak authorities. They've worked, and continue to work, under difficult circumstances. The foreign photojournalists who "parachuted" briefly into Egypt at the first whiff of civil disturbances did a great job documenting the revolution, but they were still "parachutists'...they were not indigenous to the revolution....sure, they documented it with a good photographic eye...sure, some of them were badly beaten by pro-regime thugs...sure, their photographs were plastered on pages of major newspapers and magazines...but they can never understand the revolution as these young local photographers did.

I know that featuring the work of these Egyptian photojournalists here may start the ball rolling, and could soon lead to larger venues where their talent can be better appreciated...I also know that generous photographers such as Eric Beecroft, John Horniblow and Michael Robinson Chavez are planning such venues. When I have all the details I'll announce them here.

In the meantime, I will feature the work of a handful of these young professionals on The Travel Photographer blog during the coming week.

Trust me...they are not marquee names, but their work is as good as that of the world-famous photojournalists.

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POV: Analyzing Photos of The Egyptian Revolution

First, let me share this anecdote from the 2010 Istanbul Foundry Photojournalism Workshop. Mohammed "Mikko" Hassan, the late young Egyptian photojournalist, told me he had to borrow a lens from a friend so he could produce the kind of imagery expected of him at the workshop. Yes, young photojournalists in Egypt who work for local newspapers have to share lenses when covering assignments because they can't afford to have their own. This is not unheard of amongst non-Western photographers.

I remembered Mikko's words when I saw BagNews Salon was hosting an online panel this coming Sunday to discuss the medias visual framing of Egypt's revolution. I expected and hoped it would involve the work of some of the young Egyptian photojournalists who are Mikko's peers, and who covered it for the local Al Masry Al Youm, Al Shorouk newspapers to name but a few.

Regretfully, this didn't seem to be the intent of the organizers.

As Michael Shaw of BagNews writes in response to my comment on its website:

"Instead, we looked to those with particular cross-cultural media expertise (Michelle Woodward of Middle East Report is certainly that) as well as others with deep experience reading media photos with cultural sensitivity (Campbell), as well as visual academics with an eye on on visual semiotics, in general, to articulate how the (largely Western) media created its own narrative of the story."

Perhaps a bit too heavy-handed on the defensive prose there, but fair enough. On the other hand, does it seem too "clubby" to only showcase the work of photojournalists who are already reasonably internationally well-known, and not include the photographs from those who work for Egyptian newspapers, who borrow cameras and CF cards from each other because they can't afford it otherwise, and who were beaten when they covered any anti-government demonstrations......including their revolution?

To be fair once again to Mr Shaw, he took the time to explain he didn't think the event would be the optimal venue for such photographs, but suggested that the BagNewsOriginals section might be a better fit for such work. Perhaps he's right...and it's certainly his prerogative to keep the public event within the panel's Western comfort zone.

In any case, my readers can make up their owns minds by visiting BagNews Salon and The British Journal of Photography.

Having said that, I must say I'm discomfited. Not by Mr Shaw's stance, but at having received no reaction from a couple of Egyptian photojournalists whom I asked to submit work to BagNews in time for the event. If they're unwilling to stand up and make their presence known, how can they break into "the club"?

On the plus side, I hear efforts are being made by generous photojournalists like Michael Robinson Chavez (and others) to bring the work covering the revolution by young Egyptian photographers to Visa Pour l'Image in Perpignan.

I hope they grab the opportunity.

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POV: Analyzing Photos of The Egyptian Revolution

First, let me share this anecdote from the 2010 Istanbul Foundry Photojournalism Workshop. Mohammed "Mikko" Hassan, the late young Egyptian photojournalist, told me he had to borrow a lens from a friend so he could produce the kind of imagery expected of him at the workshop. Yes, young photojournalists in Egypt who work for local newspapers have to share lenses when covering assignments because they can't afford to have their own. This is not unheard of amongst non-Western photographers.

I remembered Mikko's words when I saw BagNews Salon was hosting an online panel this coming Sunday to discuss the medias visual framing of Egypt's revolution. I expected and hoped it would involve the work of some of the young Egyptian photojournalists who are Mikko's peers, and who covered it for the local Al Masry Al Youm, Al Shorouk newspapers to name but a few.

Regretfully, this didn't seem to be the intent of the organizers.

As Michael Shaw of BagNews writes in response to my comment on its website:

"Instead, we looked to those with particular cross-cultural media expertise (Michelle Woodward of Middle East Report is certainly that) as well as others with deep experience reading media photos with cultural sensitivity (Campbell), as well as visual academics with an eye on on visual semiotics, in general, to articulate how the (largely Western) media created its own narrative of the story."

Perhaps a bit too heavy-handed on the defensive prose there, but fair enough. On the other hand, does it seem too "clubby" to only showcase the work of photojournalists who are already reasonably internationally well-known, and not include the photographs from those who work for Egyptian newspapers, who borrow cameras and CF cards from each other because they can't afford it otherwise, and who were beaten when they covered any anti-government demonstrations......including their revolution?

To be fair once again to Mr Shaw, he took the time to explain he didn't think the event would be the optimal venue for such photographs, but suggested that the BagNewsOriginals section might be a better fit for such work. Perhaps he's right...and it's certainly his prerogative to keep the public event within the panel's Western comfort zone.

In any case, my readers can make up their owns minds by visiting BagNews Salon and The British Journal of Photography.

Having said that, I must say I'm discomfited. Not by Mr Shaw's stance, but at having received no reaction from a couple of Egyptian photojournalists whom I asked to submit work to BagNews in time for the event. If they're unwilling to stand up and make their presence known, how can they break into "the club"?

On the plus side, I hear efforts are being made by generous photojournalists like Michael Robinson Chavez (and others) to bring the work covering the revolution by young Egyptian photographers to Visa Pour l'Image in Perpignan.

I hope they grab the opportunity.

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TIME Magazine: Egyptian Youth

It's not often that I'm in agreement with TIME magazine's cover choices, but I am with this one. The photograph is of Egyptian activists in Cairo who made history, and is by Finlay MacKay, a Scottish photographer.

The uprisings in the Arab Middle East are defining moments for the youth of these countries...while some mistaken pundits in the West are still trying to define the uprisings as having Islamic (or even Islamist) connotations, these are the same old tired cliches we've heard over and over again since September 11, 2001.

These are the faces of Egypt...look at them carefully. These are its future.

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POV: Missed Opportunity?

Photo  MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images (Via denverpost.com)

As readers of this blog know, my In Search of Sufis of Gujarat Photo-Expedition coincided almost perfectly with the revolution in Egypt, and I was torn between my commitment to its participants to continue leading it as if nothing was happening in my homeland...and flying off to Cairo and cover the events as best I could.

I stayed on. It was a difficult decision and certainly a missed opportunity to get involved in Egypt's historic moments, but I had a commitment to the group of photographers who chose to accompany me on this trip.

Had I sensed that I needed to be there because of dangerous turn of events, I would have taken leave of my group, and I know they would have understood and supported my decision to be in Cairo instead. But that did not happen and all was safe. Was it a missed opportunity for me to cover the events at Tahrir Square? Of course. But it was not meant to be. Had I not have a commitment to fulfill, I'd have been amongst the first to be there.

I was asked by a number of well-wishers, friends and acquaintances whether I'd return to Egypt and take part in the restructuring that is bound to happen. As much as I'm flattered by the thought, I've been away from Egypt for too long...it's up to the younger generation to remodel their country in the shape and form they want it to be....and I know they will eventually succeed. Once freedom is tasted, there's no turning back.

Perhaps it won't be an Utopian democracy...there'll be disappointments...it'll be imperfect...but it'll be theirs, and they deserve it after 60 years of deprivation, humiliation, and inequality.

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Egypt Is Free

Photo  Ed Ou For The New York Times

Egypt Is Free! is the headline in the Indian newspapers here in Ahmedabad...and what a welcome sight it is after two weeks of non stop traveling in Gujarat on the In Search of Sufis Photo~Expedition. Infrequent internet connections, and non existent English news channels on hotels' television meant that detailed news of the historic events in Cairo were sparse.

It's with jubilation that I learned of Mubarak's resignation and the fall of his regime...but as importantly, I'm ecstatic the young Egyptians have more than regained their pride, and their place in history. As many have said, this is a historic and momentous event which will certainly portend freedom for the millions of the Arab youth in other countries. The hard work to establish a working democracy will start soon...and that also will be a test for the fortitude of these admirable Egyptians.

I've seen the phenomenal photo coverage in all the dailies; The New York Times, MSNBC, WSJ Photo Journal, The Big Picture and the rest of them...the excellent work by Ron Haviv, Michael Robinson Chavez, Ed Ou and many others.

However, I cannot help but wonder why haven't the photo editors of these newspapers/magazines also featured the work of Egyptian photojournalists who covered the events as well? Why not give a chance to these young photographers to show how they document their own revolution? They also need the exposure...and it's their revolution after all!!!

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A New Dawn In Egypt?

Photo  Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

It's surreal to be at the cusp of starting on a photo~expedition while my country of origin is experiencing an unprecedented massive popular uprising to get rid of the current regime of Mubarak, the Egyptian president....who announced that he would remain as its leader but sack its government.

There are a number of thoughts that come to mind. This is a real organic grassroots popular uprising in Egypt against an extremely unpopular and corrupt regime. The Egyptians participating in the uprising are secular, young, educated and less so, and are technological-savvy. There are no signs of religious ideology, of Islamist influence, in these demonstrations.

I sensed that many of the Western pundits are shocked (and possibly disappointed) that there is no whiff of Islamic extremism in the demonstrations...this pulls the rug from under the Western (and the current Egyptian leadership) interests who would like to characterize the uprising as another Iran.

While Mubarak signaled his decision to stay in power, it's not up to him any longer. It's the Egyptian youth who will decide the course of the nation...as it should be.

It's an unparalleled opportunity for the United States to support the Egyptian people in its quest for democracy, and eliminate all anti-Americanism feelings in the whole region by doing so. Imagine if the US administration unequivocally declares its support for the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt!

Incha' Allah there will be a new dawn for Egypt and its people.

(Posted from Delhi)

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The Coptic Man on "Tiananmen Square"?

Photo  Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

A photograph by Amr Abdallah Dalsh, a Reuters photographer, stopped me in my tracks. It shows an Egyptian young man (presumably a Christian Copt) menacing or hurling a piece of iron at the cowering Egyptian police. This came about as a consequence of the heinous bombing of a Coptic church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve which killed 23 and injured 100.

Egypt is still reeling from the violence, and its government has quickly blamed external Islamist terrorism, promising to bring the perpetrators to justice.  I'm not holding my breath on that eventuality, and neither are the Copts, who have been subject to discrimination at all levels in their very own country.

High on the Copts' grievance list is Egypt's policy to make it extremely difficult for them to build churches.  The country's prime minister recently rejected demands for Copts to be free to build churches, claiming that the government will make sure that there are enough worship places for both Muslims and Christians. A joke.

And this is one of our so-called stalwart allies in the Middle East. Another joke.

But let's go back to the photograph for a minute. A half-naked man confronting a phalanx of well armed, well protected security forces...and seemingly single-highhandedly making them cower like rats. This is truly an example of a picture being worth a thousand words.

Photograph courtesy Reuters Full Focus Blog

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NPR: Cairo And The "Disconnected"

This touches on photography/multimedia only tangentially, so unless you're into Middle Eastern-international politics, you may want to skip all the stuff below and just click on the movie.

A number of media outlets are gingerly covering Egypt's political scene due to the imminent parliamentary elections. I say gingerly because Egypt is a so-called major ally in the "war against terror" or whatever it's called these days, so it wouldn't be politic or in our national "interests" to criticize its ossified and corrupt regime. Why the United States aligns itself with despots in the Middle East and elsewhere will always be an anachronism.

NPR has featured a number of short articles and some multimedia for the occasion, and I found this one titled In Cairo Slum, Little Hope For Change to be an exemplar of what the current situation is in Egypt. I say "current" but that's not really correct. It's always been that way, and it'll continue to be that way, perhaps get even wider...a profound disconnect and an immense gap between the poor and the elite. Trust me...I know that for a fact.

An Egyptian investment banker (I'm not sure how he can be one with such an atrocious spoken English) complains that his children are disconnected from the rest of Egypt because they go to American schools, wear Western clothes and barely speak Egyptian Arabic. Well, I've got news for him....the "disconnect" has been prevalent since the Pharaohs.

Every dog has his day as the saying goes...so going back in modern history, it was the Ottomanophiles, then Anglophiles and the Francophiles who were the elite class, and disconnected from the people. Identical to the Tsarist elite in Russian who would only speak in French, the Egyptian elite would live in bubbles of their own making, separated from the "non-elite" and the rest of their compatriots. To a lesser extent, the time for the socialist Nasserites and Sadatites came and went. Now, it's the turn of the Mubarakphiles...the business cronies, the oligarchs, and the corrupt corporate/political alliances who form the recent elite....but these will also vanish when their time comes, only to be replaced by a hungrier demographic. We've been there before, and it's only a matter of time before the cycle repeats itself. A class will just replace another class. And by the way, claiming to have Turkish ancestry (some extremely tenuous and others grossly made up) is currently a de rigueur affectation for many of the newly minted Egyptian wealthy class. Go figure. Having Turkish heritage was once viewed as being regressive, not authentic and even unpatriotic. I know that for a fact as well.

But back to the "disconnected"...which many of the privileged (some would describe them as spoiled) Egyptian youth are. Confused by a brainless embrace of a culture that is not theirs; an embrace made possible because their parents are the current moneyed elite and can buy into an ersatz Americanism; confused by their own dichotomy...seeing no conflict between binge drinking, heavy partying and then fasting Ramadan and claiming religiosity...but unable and unwilling to adopt American meritocratic values, its democratic values and work ethics.

Watch the multimedia piece...then shed a tear for the real people of Egypt who deserve infinitely better than the dismal life they're leading.

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Mohamed Hassan: Photojournalist

Photo  Mohamed Hassan- All Rights Reserved

Mohamed Hassan Abd El Aal (Mikko Hassan) lived and worked in Cairo, and graduated from the Akhbar El-Yom Academy with an honor degree in Journalism. He worked as a press photographer in the daily newspaper El-Shorouk El Gedid. Apart from covering political issues, protests and demonstrations, he was interested in documenting the traditional manufacturing processes in Old Cairo. One of these features gleaned him first prize in the 2009 Annual Press Photography Competition of Egypt.

I met Mohamed (aka Mikko) at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul. He wasn't in my class, but approached me, rather shyly, and expressed his pleasure in seeing that one of the instructors was of Egyptian heritage. He told me that although he had seen my name on the roster of instructors, but had taken it for Lebanese. Mohamed participated in Guy Calaf's class, and had been awarded a scholarship.

I reviewed Mohamed's portfolio which, as he wrote in his biography, had photographs of his explorations in the deepest corners of Old Cairo. He did them during his one day week-ends, on his own time, deriving nothing of it except his own pleasure and self-improvement. I sensed his enthusiasm for photography, saw his talent and his eye for composition, and predicted to him that he'd be one of Egypt's best photojournalists.

It was not to be. His trajectory was very sadly cut short because of a fatal freak accident a few days ago. He will be missed by many.

The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop family reacts: Eric Beecroft, the co-founder of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, announced that a permanent full scholarship in Mikko's name will be made available, and his work is featured on the FPW's front page.

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Masr: Javier Morgade

Masr is the Arabic word for Egypt...and it's also colloquially used for Cairo. So in Arabic, Egyptians are called Masr'yeen...which is confusing for non-Arabic speakers, but that's how it is. Egypt was borrowed from the Latin Aegyptus and from the ancient Greek Agyptos.

Javier Morgade was filming in Egypt for an airline company, and was left with surplus footage for this short movie. It's a documentary made with a Canon 5d Mark II and a Glidetrack HD. It was edited in Final Cut Pro and graded with After Effects. The song is by a contemporary Egyptian singer and is titled ah men al forak, which loosely translated means "lamenting separation".

In my view (and I should know), Javier managed to capture in this short movie the essence of the Egyptian character, the kindness, humor, hospitality and generosity...even their occasional legendary intrusiveness. It saddens me to see the poverty in the alleys of old Cairo, but as always, it's mitigated by the Egyptian talent for being able to share setbacks, poverty, sorrows, and life troubles. No Egyptian is an island...and while they find enormous solace in their extended families and friends, neighbors and even casual acquaintances...they deserve better.

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David Myers: City of The Dead

The City of the Dead is produced by David Myers, a part-time photographer who lives in Maryland and works in Washington DC.

The City of the Dead is a four mile long cemetery (a necropolis would be a better word to describe it) which extends from the northern to southern part of Cairo. It's called el-arafa by Egyptians, and is an area of tombs and mausoleums where people live and works amongst the dead. Its foundation dates back to the Arab conquest of Egypt in 642 AD, and has grown with time until it reached the equivalent of a fully functioning residential suburb of Cairo.

I watched this short photo essay, and it brought back childhood memories when, once a year during the Eid festival, I had to accompany my father to pay respects to our ancestors and forebears who were interred in our family's mausoleum. I still recall it being as large as a couple of basketball courts, with two house-like structures sheltering a number of mausoleums, made of marble or alabaster, and intricately carved with verses of the Qur'an. It is under one of those that my father rests, alongside his forebears. The marble gateway to the mausoleums is carved with the name of my grandfather...which is like mine.

This brought back the smell of dust to my nostrils...the Egyptian dust that is tamped down by hosing it with water...the green-grey color of the palm tree leaves...and much more.

I've been to many Islamic countries and heard the adan in all of them...but few of them come  close to beauty and purity of the Egyptian adan. Perhaps I am biased....

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