画家のムンクを思わせる、エジプト革命の写真

Rainy Day Abstract - London, UK 2/2/2017 #☔️

Laura El-Tantawyさん(@laura_eltantawy)がシェアした投稿 - 2017 2月 2 12:58午後 PST

 

Pigeons at the Window ... A Photograph my Dad Asked me to Take - Hofuf, Saudi Arabia 19/7/2015 #صباحى #صباح #الهفوف #السعودية #instagood #instamood #potd #saudiarabia #hofuf #mytravelgram #pictureswithmyfamily #pictureswithpeopleilove #beautifulthingstowakeupto #beautifulmorning #artistic #thingsiseefrommywindow

Laura El-Tantawyさん(@laura_eltantawy)がシェアした投稿 - 2015 7月 19 1:45午前 PDT

 

そんなエル・タンタウィにとって写真は、彼女の言葉を借りれば、自分自身と周りの世界を理解するツールだ。いや、彼女自身の生き方さえも、異なった価値観、文化がもたらした葛藤が何であるのかを追い求めるようになっている。事実、2005年に新聞社を辞めてカイロに行ったのもそのためだ。

カイロではさらなる運命的な出合いが待ってた。もちろん、タハリール広場を発端にしたエジプト革命のことだ。単なる被写体としての革命、あるいはそれに参加、もしくは巻き込まれた人々との遭遇という意味ではない。

エジプト人であることを自らの最大のアイデンティティとして位置付けようとしていた彼女にとって、2011年のタハリール広場と、それ以降の動乱で見たエジプト人たちの姿は、それまで彼女が知っていた、あるいは思い描いていたエジプト人とはまったく違っていたのである。それゆえ、彼女の中にさらなるアイデンティティの葛藤が生じたのである。

だが結局それは、多くのアーティストたちが逆境をバネとしたように、エル・タンタウィにとっても大きなエネルギーの糧になっていった。新たな自分探しに加え、彼女自身が意識するしないに関わらず、異なる世界への架け橋的な探求という旅が始まったのである。

＊すでにインスタグラムでも発表されているが、この探求は彼女の新しい写真集"Beyond Here Is Nothing"にまとめられて発表される予定だ。

今回ご紹介したInstagramフォトグラファー：
Laura El-Tantawy @laura_eltantawy

A Boy Named Contentment - I know this is an uneasy picture. I was uncomfortable taking it. I felt Reda's vulnerability and knew he could not see me to understand mine. These are not the pictures I wanted to take in Egypt. This is not what the revolution was supposed to do. "Bread ... Freedom ... Social Justice". I met Reda's mother first. She was in Tahrir Square. She told me about him. His name means 'contentment'. I find names are so revealing when you reflect on their meaning. Meeting Reda, I understood his beautiful name. His parents couldn't have predicted his demeanor when they named him. I believe people grow to encompass the character their name represents. Egypt's current state of affairs leaves me questioning the line between fact and fiction. Activists - young men and women, some in their teens, are being arrested with no question, youths are kidnapped from the safety of their homes, schools and universities leaving behind tormented mothers and grieving fathers, torture in prisons is a reality, voices of dissent are systemically told to shut up and the dream of "Bread, Freedom and Social Justice" has been forgotten. The government with its fleeting post revolution honeymoon phase of transparency has instilled fear in the hearts of Egyptians with voracious propaganda campaigns and outright brainwashing of the public broadcast on television screens, airwaves and pages of daily newspapers. The integrity of the Jan. 25 movement and everyone associated with it has been tarnished - denying that if not for this very movement, the current government would not be. A system of alienation employing an 'Are you with us or against us' rhetoric is now commonplace in a country where unity is the only possibility forward. I think of Reda today. Nineteen-years-old when I photographed him, his world turned dark when a policeman fired rubber pellets into his eyes. There are hundreds of documented cases of police targeting protesters in their eyes. Doctors from Cairo to Germany told Reda it's unlikely he will regain his sight. The legacy of Egypt's revolution is depressing when I think of a young man like Reda. #Egypt #Jan25Anniversary #Revolution #TahrirSquare

Laura El-Tantawyさん(@laura_eltantawy)がシェアした投稿 - 2016 1月 25 2:50午後 PST