Ivor Prickett, 2011
Untitled
Created by Ivor Prickett in 2011. The artwork is a c-print and displayed at 79 x 79 cm.
12 February 2011: it is one day after the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak resigned, and a group of soldiers are keeping an eye on the crowds at Cairo’s Tahrir Square. After three weeks of incessant public protest, Mubarak’s 30-year regime had come to an end. Although the men look alert, they also seem to pose at ease in front of the camera. On the left we can just catch a glimpse of someone carrying an Egyptian flag as he passes behind the group of armed men in military uniform. Despite the intimidating scene, the soft light and pastel shades infuse the photograph with a sense of serenity. In this way, the Irish photographer Ivor Prickett manages to capture the uncertainty of the moment in a poetical manner. During his stay in the Middle East, Prickett documented the revolutions in both Egypt and Libya, also known as the Arab Spring. His series Days of Anger shows how a protest held on 25 January 2011 evolves into an 18-day struggle against the government, culminating in Mubarak’s resignation.
© Ivor Prickett, courtesy of the Foam Collection