Decolonizing Images

The 25 January Revolution in 2011 placed Egypt at the centre of discussions about the radical transformations taking place in global photographic cultures. Yet Egypt and photography share a longer history that is rarely included in Western accounts of the medium. Decolonizing images presents a new account of the rich visual cultures produced and exhibited in Egypt, focusing on the camera's ability to conceal as much as it reveals. Moving from the initial encounters between local knowledge and Western-led modernity, the book explores how the image intersects with the politics of representation, censorship, activism and aesthetics. It overturns Eurocentric understandings of the photograph through a compelling account of this indigenous visual culture, providing a complex vision of decolonial difference in contemporary Egypt. Drawing on a wide range of historical and contemporary visual materials, Decolonizing images reveals the diverse ways the medium has been used to influence political affairs and cultural life and to reimagine Egypt in its transformation from colony to sovereign nation.