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The work Traffic, consisting of the two tableaus Parking Lot and Roundabout broaches the issue of observation aside from the media covered events in Egypt. They were photographed in January/February 2012 in Cairo at the time of the anniversary of the revolution that had begun at the central place of Tahrir in 2011.
Parking Lot presents an observation of the parking lot of the Palace of Justice in downtown Cairo. Over the course of two weeks the events in the city close to Tahir are mirrored in the use of the parking lot. The observation begins a day after the anniversary of the start of the revolution that was celebrated with peaceful demonstrations. Shortly after vans of the riot police are stationed on the parking lot in order to be ready to fend off protests. When after the Port Said incident (violent riots, probably provoked by security forces with at least 77 dead) the protest movement gains momentum the vans disappear as well as cars by Cairo citizens who seem to look for safer parking areas outside of downtown. Immediately after the protests calm down the police vans are back. Roundabout shows the observation of Tahrir, a central roundabout in Cairo, without focusing on the tangible events that stand in the context of the political upheavals of the country. The photographic observation completely concentrates on the everyday occurrences. We know the media footage of this place, images of gatherings, of the revolution, of violence. These are incorporated in this tableau, the knowledge of the events forms the background of its contemplation. However, the photographs focus entirely on the Egyptian everyday life: the traffic, taxis, busses, mopeds, and the people altogether using the street. |