­“All people consume cannabis,” says Samaka – which means ‘fish’ – a 27-year-old dealer in Cairo. According to a 2010 study by Mansoura University Emergency Hospital, nearly 30% of all substance abuse in the urine of patients at the hospital was found to be cannabis consumption. After the 2011 Revolution, security suffered yet drug trafficking […]

A lot of people in Egyptian society, especially girls, experience body shaming. They worry about how they look because their environment reacts negatively if they are overweight or if they do not fit certain beauty standards. Many of the girls we wanted to photograph refused, out of fear of how others might perceive them. A […]

In July 2015, the families of Ayt Al-Akari and Ayt Awida held a meeting in the village of Ahmed Ourabi in Al-Ameriya to the west of Alexandria Governorate to resolve their dispute. The meeting ended in their reconciliation after the intervention of the tribe heads of Al-Kharfa and Ayt Al-Akari, Rasheed Bu Akari, and Sayed […]

The oldest manufacturer of Egyptian wines, Al Ahram Beverages Company (ABC) is being prosecuted by the state due to a sarcastic video advertisement about one of its beverages that, although alcohol free, was accused of going against social traditions and insulting the Egyptian State on 18 October. The Facebook ad of Birell beer that shows […]

“I am afraid that I cannot treat my daughter if she gets sick,” said Saeed, a textile worker in 6th of October City. He earns 1,500 Egyptian pounds per month (USD 100) and is married with two daughters. “Since the beginning of this year, I have begun to rely on the products sold by the […]

Sallouma Muhammad is a 60-year-old fisherman, born and raised in Gomrok, a poor neighbourhood in Alexandria governorate that has grown notorious for helping illegal migrants reach their intended destinations for more than fifty years. Most inhabitants of the Gomrok area are fishermen – veteran and professional fishermen work in the people smuggling trade since they […]

In the working class neighborhood of Ezbat Al-Nakhl in Cairo,  loud electronic music can be heard in every corner. DJ Kani Kosba sets his equiment, puts on his headset and arranges his cheap Chinese loudspeakers in a wedding hall to compete with the other music coming from shops, tuktuks and buses. Between noon and midnight, […]

The subsidy system in Egypt is in crisis. Subsidies hardly reach those who need them, and if they do, some staple subsidized goods have been missing over the past two months. Rice, for example, has been absent from the Ministry of Supply’s (MoS) outlets for the second month in a row, while sugar has not […]

A campaign to ban private tuition by the governor of Ismailia has met with mixed reactions from stakeholders in education. “Without private lessons, we would never see distinguished students in our schools,” says Ahmad Abdullah, an elimentary school teacher in Ismailia, in response to the governor, General Yaseen Taher, and the Ministry of Education’s campaign […]