Unperturbed
Egypt 1998 Luxor Temple with Ramses
We toured Egypt the year after the massacre of European tourists as they sat in their tour bus in Luxor. Tourists were scarce and the question on the lips of nearly every shopkeeper was, “Where are the Americans?” They couldn’t understand that the massacre had been off-putting to say the least. We tried to explain it, but all they could say was “Your president told you not to come, didn’t he?” (Clinton was president at the time.) They knew all about Monica Lewinsky though.
The lack of tourists was devastating to small shopkeepers. Even I could come out ahead in bargaining. They were desperate. And today, with country-wide uprisings, things must be even worse for city dwellers who depend on tourists for their living.
Luxor Temple (or Thebes) was a block or two from my hotel and I was out early to get this shot. Men wearing the peasants garb of flowing galabeya stopped me as I tried to enter. One man pulled his galabeya aside to show me a machine gun. Security. It was early, but they let me enter.
Caught in the Whirlwind of Change
She was selling something in the market. I asked her permission to take her photo. She acquiesced after I let her know that I’d pay her. A man came along and berated me and her. Egyptians seemed sensitive to the idea that the photos would be used to denigrate them. I carried on. I came to get photos and I was going to get them.
Both of these photos are high contrast…black blacks and white whites. I’m in my high contrast phase nowadays. I like the drama of it.