An Intimate Look at Egypt’s Youth in Ongoing Revolution
Usually I’d clip in one of the shots. In this instance, that would be a disservice. Hit the link and enjoy all the shots.
If you’ve been following the Arab Spring, you’ve seen Ed Ou’s work. At age 25, he has made some of the most impactful photos of the revolutions in Egypt and throughout the Middle East. His photography has helped translate the ongoing uprisings for a Western audience and he continues his work on the ground there even now.
This month Ou is back in the news. A series of his photos of Egyptian youth have been released this week in conjunction with the one-year anniversary of the protests in Tahrir Square that unseated President Hosni Mubarak. The photos give us some of the most intimate looks at life in Egypt and take us beyond the photos of yelling protestors and clouds of tear gas.
“When you have a foreign media, everyone tends to shoot the same thing, everyone has the same photo in their minds or shoots whatever is right in front of them,” Ou says. “But what people forget is that while there is ‘news’ happening, there is also 99 percent of the scene you don’t see.”
Ou’s photos provide access to an Egypt that other photographers were unable to see. He followed young Egyptians as they played a crucial role in last year’s revolution and who continue to be central voices in the ongoing process of change. The photos tell a larger story about what happens after the gaze of the mass media turns away. Ou shows the quieter moments that allow individuals to stand out from the visual repetition of anonymous protesters.