Decolonizing images

A new history of photographic cultures in Egypt

By: Ronnie Close

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Paperback | 20 January 2026

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Paperback
220 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.39 x 15.6 x 1.17

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The 2011 revolution put Egypt at the centre of discussions around radical transformations in global photographic cultures. But Egypt and photography share a longer, richer history rarely included in western accounts of the medium.

Decolonizing images focuses on the country's local visual heritage, continuing the urgent process of decolonizing the canon of photography. It presents a new account of the visual cultures produced and exhibited in Egypt by interpreting the camera's ability to conceal as much as it reveals.

The book moves from the initial encounters between local knowledge and western-led modernity to explore how the image intersects with the politics of representation, censorship, activism and aesthetics. It overturns Eurocentric understandings of the photograph through a compelling narrative of contemporary Egypt's indigenous visual culture.

Industry Reviews

'By returning to the local, Ronnie Close encourages us to see lived experience as a value for photography in Egypt. This shift situates decolonization as a way of seeing.'

Farida Youssef, independent curator and critic

'That imperialism and photography are closely entwined is by now no secret; but how do we navigate and unpick that complex legacy today? In this engaging, accessible and important book, Ronnie Close introduces a series of compelling responses, using rich examples from Egyptian cultural production to destabilise and radically expand established histories of photography.'
Benedict Burbridge, Professor of Visual Culture, University of Sussex

'Identifying the decolonial image as neither de-linked from the western historiography of photography nor constrained by the limitations of its frameworks of interpretation, Ronnie Close provides a compelling alternative reading of Egypt's visual heritage. Tracing the decolonial across Egyptian photographic culture, this wide-ranging account demonstrates Dipesh Chakrabarty's claim that our historical differences actually make a difference.'
Justin Carville, Lecturer in Photography, IADT Dºn Laoghaire

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