Laura El-Tantawy (b. 1980, UK/Egypt) is shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2016 for her self-published photobook In the Shadow of the Pyramids (2015).
Covering from 2005 to 2014, this project depicts the atmosphere and rising tensions in Cairo in the events leading to and during the January revolution in Tahrir Square (2011-13). El-Tantawy grew up between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the US, with In the Shadow of the Pyramids she explores parallel narratives of her own family’s history with the search for identity of a troubled nation. She combines old family photographs and her own lyrical witness accounts with close up portraits of protestors and streets scenes that vividly express the violence and euphoria of the crowds.
