A man sways rhythmically in Cairo, Egypt.
Photographer: Denis Dailleux
Date: c. 1990s (likely 1994 or 1999)
Egypt, specifically Cairo, is a cultural hub in the Middle East, responsible for significant contributions to music, film, art, and literature. Egyptian society is widely characterized as lively, welcoming, passionate, and lavish with sweet words.
French photographer Denis Dailleux has spent years trying to capture this expressive, artistic, and intimate element of Egyptian society. Despite being an outsider, he has worked tirelessly since the 1990s to immerse himself into Egyptian working class society, slowly moving into more private domains, inching into community spaces like cafes and eventually into family homes, joining Egyptians in celebration and in grief. It is reported that he lives in Egypt now. Some of his latest work highlights the painful sacrifices many Egyptian families experienced during the Arab Spring revolution.
Dailleux’s printed work is classically square-shaped. His earlier work was largely in black and white.