It was difficult to select one image from this series by Malak El Sawi, one marked by a distinct absence of bodies in imposing, ruined environments— ‘ruined’ not because these environments (in this case the Nile and Cairo and the gilded Fairmont Luxury Hotel ) suffer from a lack beauty, but because they’ve been stained by (recurring) violence against women now made lucidly visible in these images.  

Depictions of sexual violence can often be distasteful and thoughtless, gratuitously graphic and lacking in tact or sensitivity. El Sawi’s imagined crime scenes circumvent this pitfall of many-a-male-artist: the absence of the body here – the littered sidewalks, the missing shirt – is much more harrowing than its presence.  This absence, along with Ahmed Srour’s fashion-editorial direction, works to emphasise the staged, fictive, nature of the image. Rather than portray an assault in all its violence, the subtlety forces you to linger and think of all the possible things that might have happened: how and when this happened, to whom (and to how many?), and where was she headed dressed like this...?  

MALAK EL SAWI is a Cairo born and based photographer. Her work moves primarily between fashion and documentary, often weaving socio political commentary into both genres.Using mainly film photography, she explores style, class, girlhood, feminism and resistance while using Cairo and Egypt as a background for the majority of her work. Dubbed ‘one of The more noted photographers of her generation’ by Egyptian Streets, Malak’s work has been featured regionally and internationally in publications such as Konbini Arts, Al Hayya, Gal-Dem, GQ Arabia, Vice and the Guardian as well as Assouline’s Cairo Eternal and Mada Masr’s I Hear A Future. Malak has participated in an Open Studio at Friche Belle De Mai in Marseille as part of Résidences Méditerranée, exhibited her work at the French Institute of Cairo for Cairo Photo Week, at ADEF as part of Malha Al Madina and is looking forward to more exhibitions. 

LUJAINA YOUSSEF is a student and writer interested in affective philosophies and aesthetics. Her main focus is the intersection of critical theory, contemporary art, and literature. She has previously contributed to various grassroots leftist political publications, and is currently editorial assistant at Foam Magazine.