As part of Cairo Photo Week, Downtown Cairo’s Access Art Space is hosting an exhibition entitled ‘The Legend: Farouk Ibrahim.’ Curated by visual artist Nadia Mounier, the exhibition celebrates the iconic photographer’s legacy with a display of over 150 photographs unboxed by his son, Karim Farouk Ibrahim. At the gallery’s entrance, visitors are greeted by two images hanging on either side of the opposite wall. One shows the members of the 1952 Revolutionary Command Council, who led Egypt’s uprising against the monarchy and transition into a republic. The second picture, captured in Tahrir square in February 2011, shows a middle-aged couple raising a flag in proud celebration of the downfall of Mubarak’s thirty-year rule. The two images swiftly alert viewers to the historical value of the archive on display. Active from 1952 until his death in 2011, Ibrahim’s body of work spans sixty years and two revolutions. As such, it provides an opportunity to reflect on the tumultuous social, political, and cultural change witnessed in those six decades, and the power of photojournalism to provide a counter narrative to dominant historical accounts. Decolonizing Egyptian Photography Ibrahim’s work is given particular…
Remembering Farouk Ibrahim, Pioneer of Egyptian Photography
February 17, 2023
