Decolonizing Images: A New History of Photographic Cultures in Egypt

(Hardback)

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Description

The 2011 revolution put Egypt at the centre of discussions around radical transformations in global photographic cultures. But Egypt and photography share a longer, richer history rarely included in western accounts of the medium. Decolonizing images focuses on the countrys local visual heritage, continuing the urgent process of decolonizing the canon of photography. It presents a new account of the visual cultures produced and exhibited in Egypt by interpreting the cameras ability to conceal as much as it reveals. The book moves from the initial encounters between local knowledge and western-led modernity to explore how the image intersects with the politics of representation, censorship, activism and aesthetics. It overturns Eurocentric understandings of the photograph through a compelling narrative of contemporary Egypts indigenous visual culture.

Author Bio

Ronnie Close is an Associate Professor at the American University in Cairo