Full 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 country's 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 camera's 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 Egypt's indigenous visual culture.
Contents
Introduction: unruly photography
1 Rethinking the histories of photography
2 Decolonizing the lens
3 National images
4 Histories of the street
5 Censorship gazes on female portraiture
6 Contemporary lenses within Egypt
Conclusion: decolonial aesthetic futures
Index
