The Other Side of The Pyramids

Outside the borders of Egypt, The Great Pyramids of Giza are thought upon with a sense of awe and wonder. This is of course aided by the kind of imagery used by govermental touristic agencies to keep that perception alive. Photographer Manuel Alvarez Diestro decided to capture a more realistic side of the Pyramids, in line with Cairo's modern decline, perceiving the Pyramid area as more of an abandoned industrial wasteland, than a wonderland, littered with vacant billboards, pylons and rubble. Diestro manages to capture the same sort apathy locals feel when driving past those big triangles every day on the da2ery as appose to the jaw-dropping, put-hand-over-Pyramid-perspective shot from your average tourist.

Twenty kilometers away and after hours of walking I found and photographed what I thought to be a landscape full of symbols and strong visual juxtapositions.

I walked along cars and military trucks and looking perplexed to an epic view. The pyramids were in the far distance and confronted with traffic signs, semi abandoned advertisement panels and electric posts that I was encountering on my way. However, in the outskirts of Cairo this “collage” of symbols seems to suggest an uncertain future.