Cairo, 2013
(c) Emese Benko

Cairo, 2013
(c) Emese Benko

Ahmed

Ahmed, my husband.
Cairo, 2013
(c) Emese Benko

Cairo - landscapes

Cairo, 2013
(c) Emese Benko

Cairo, 2013
(c) Emese Benko

Pictures of an unfinished revolution

Pictures of an unfinished revolution

Graffiti in ancient Egypt was a spontaneous art form, often used for recording historical events. It can be found on the walls of pyramids, temples and tombs.

Today's graffiti in Egypt is used to express the political turmoil the country is undergoing. Many of the graffitis are in the Tahrir area, as this was the scene of both revolutions, in 2011 and in 2013. Most of them are political statements, mocking either the past regime(s) or the present one. There is also a whole series of portraits of people who died in the 2011 revolution – a constant reminder. 

Some walls have been whitewashed several times but the artists don't give up, the graffitis reappear very soon.

And the revolution is not finished in Egypt.

(c) Emese Benko
Cairo, August 2013

Last Friday's protest, Cairo

It wasn't only the Muslim Brotherhood at this protest. They were people who are against the military dictatorship. A young woman told me: "I'm an Egyptian and that's all what I have in common with the Muslim Brotherhood. We are all against the military ruling our country."

People were shouting: "Why did you give Sisi authorization to kill our brother, to kill our sister?", "Sisi is a killer!", "Thepolice and the army have blood on their hands!", "Down with the military dogs!"

As we saw the snipers ready to shoot on the top of a tall building next to the street blocked by the security forces. We were all thinking: they can start to shoot anytime now, without a warning, without any explanation - they have done it before and they will do it before. We were lucky though, nobody died that day in Cairo. There were 2 dead though in other cities that day.

06/09/13, Cairo

Before the massacre

This was the last protest of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo before the massacre at Rabaa.
The next day, the army shot more than 800 people and declared a state of emergency. The streets have been quite empty for days after that. And there was a terrible silence. Tanks, guns, checkpoints everywhere. Ever since, the army is controlling everything, including the mass media. A lot of journalists have been arrested and the army is still preventing journalists do their work.

13/08/13, Cairo
(c) Emese Benko

Just another Friday

Protests take place lately in every major city on Fridays in Egypt.
On the photo below: a tourist taking a picture at a demonstration of the Muslim Brotherhood in Hurghada. Hurghada is one of the few places where tourists still spend their vacation in Egypt. Tourism, a very important income for the country, has decreased drastically in the last months due to political unrest in Egypt.

23/08/13, Hurghada
(c) Emese Benko

The anti-everything protest

Protests belong to the everyday life lately in Egypt. There are pro Morsi and anti Morsi, pro army and anti army protests and you name it what else.

The demonstrants below know that both parts are lying and only want the power for themselves without any wish for sharing it. So they are against Morsi but also against the military dictatorship. They were shouting: "No to Morsi, no to the army !" and "We will continue our revolution !"

Cairo, 30.08.2013.

(c) Emese Benko