Cairo Dream

Cairo Dream by Anthony Hamboussi, 2025 Published by Monolith Editions “I was born in Brooklyn​, New York to working class​ Egyptian parents in the last week of 1969. When I began​ photographing in Cairo, my intention was to reclaim my​ identity as an Egyptian and to engage in a dialogue about the​ environmental conditions that make up the city of Cairo. I​ set down my camera in public space imagining that I too​ could be objective. I was led to question my “American” way​ of thinking by events unfolding around me: a revolution,​ a military coup, and also, by the ways and generosity of​ everyday people. I came to understand that the social implications of​ photography are very different in Egypt than in the US. In the​ US, many documentary photographers make photographs in​ ways which can be invasive or insensitive to others, because​ they believe it’s their right as individuals to do so. This​ way of thinking doesn’t hold a lot of water for Egyptians.​ Responsibility to one’s community over oneself is something I​ learned in Egypt. I am considered an outsider in both countries I belong to. I’ve​ been stopped, detained and arrested while photographing​ in both countries and labeled an enemy in both countries;​ terrorist in the US, foreign spy or agitator in Egypt. The work​ of making the larger body of photographs which includes​ Cairo Dream, contains the duality of my insider and outsider​ identity. This identity keeps me one step in and one step out.” + Anthony Hamboussi _________________________________________________________ Design by Luminosity Lab | Caleb Cain Marcus 6.3 × 9.5” offset 80 pages, 47 plates Swiss binding (lay flat) Edition of 400