Laura El-Tantawy: In the Shadow of the Pyramids

The Gulf Photo Project presents In the Shadow of the Pyramids, a project of the famous Egyptian photographer Laura El-Tantawy.
The artist began this series in 2005, when she was compelled to explore the essence of Egyptian identity in the hope of coming to terms with her own. Guided by childhood memories, her photographs are not meant to be objective observations of a nation, but rather personal reflections of Egypt through her own eyes. The result is dark, sentimental and passionate.

Laura El-Tantawy is an Egyptian photographer. She was born in Worcestershire, England to Egyptian parents and grew up between Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the US. She worked as a newspaper photographer with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Sarasota Herald-Tribune (USA). In 2006, she became freelance to focus on personal projects. In 2008, she was nominated and accepted as one of 15 photographers from around the world to participate in Reflexions Masterclass, a two-year photo seminar directed by Italian photographer Giogia Fiorio and French curator Gabriel Bauret. In 2005 she started work on her first book documenting her journey through a changing Egypt. As part of her urge to understand the issues, in 2009 she accepted a six-month fellowship at University of Oxford (UK) to research free speech in Egyptian. Her work has been published and exhibited in the US, Europe, Asia and Middle East.