CAIRO CITY.
EGYPT, 2013
WONDERS OF THE WORLD. BACKSTREETS OF A SOUK.
ALL THAT IN BETWEEN.
I grew up playing a 1997 game called 'Pharaoh and Cleopatra', a game set in the ancient kingdoms of Egypt. I could name all the ancient gods and structures, drew Egyptian hieroglyphics as art and spoke of history like I was there and yet. Yet nothing could prepare me for the marvel that is Egypt.
And how truly small I felt when I stood next to these structures, by size and time.
I was fifteen when I was visited Egypt. A lot of the photos in this set are things that I found fascinating back then, which include tourists, cats, men dressed in Arab clothes, the hawkers of Khan-el-Khalili bazaar and their wares. Which is also why the only monument-ish picture you will see is of the Giza Pyramids below. All photos are shot on the Nikon D90.
The Giza Pyramids, broken and battered. Still there, still tall.
A woman poses for the 'tip of the pyramid' photo. Her companion looks on, amused.
A stranger takes a photo of a couple by the Light Show at Giza.
I sleep on the ground to take this panoramic shot. Two men walk the path to the Panoramic View Point.
We spy ourselves in Sidhu's fake Coach glasses.
A man stands in the mid-day sun. The winds are harsh on his face and clothes. He stands any way.
Metres away, a man sleeps in the shade and covers his face with his turban to protect him from the same wind.
Tea grows colder in a cup by the books that line the streets leading to Khan-el-Khalili.
A man tries to convince his companion while solving sudoku. She turns her face away.
We stop for minty tea and biscuits before entering the bazaar. The sun sets on Old Cairo as people chat.
A cat perches on the stool next to me. She asks for the biscuit. We resist. For five seconds.
As the sun sets, it casts a glow on the wares.
The bazaar is filled with gold and bronze items for the tourist to buy. As they line streets, they decorate it as if it were their own.
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And maybe they've been around for so long that, maybe it is.
Streets of Khan-el-Khalili
Anna sits down to take a shot of a hawker in conversation.
The end.