Photographs and text by Matthew Connors
Design by Antonio de Luca
SPBH Editions, London, 2015
Hardcover, lithography, 148 pages, 7.85 x 10 in.
Edition of 1000
Fire in Cairo emerged from Egypt as an oblique and fragmentary document of revolutionary struggle. The book charts Connors’ uneasy engagement with the political turmoil that gripped the nation during its rapidly unfolding history. The complexity of the situation resisted comprehensive explanation, but invited metaphorical speculation. In his images Cairo reveals itself to be an enormous studio for social change, ripe with visual, sculptural and atmospheric residues of resistance. He weaves these together with portraits of Egyptians from across the political spectrum and his own experimental fiction. The result is a book that careens between reportage, poetry and surrealism to heighten the tensions between beauty, threat and historical consequence.
Awards
Recipient of the 2016 ICP Infinity Award: Artist’s Book
Paris Photo-Aperture Photography First PhotoBook Shortlist 2015
Arles Author Book Award Shortlist 2015
Press
Review by Brian Sholis, frieze
Review by Hélène Sallon, M, Le Magazine du Monde
Review by Brad Feuerhelm, AMERICAN SUBURB X
Review by Marco Bohr, Photomonitor
Review by Ronnie Close, Mada Masr
Review by Adam Bell, photo-eye
Review by Max Houghton, 1000 Words
Review by Jorg M. Colberg, Conscientious Photo Magazine
Review by Olga Yatskevich, Collector Daily
Review by Paul Moakley, TIME
Review by Lucy Davies, British Journal of Photography
Interview with Clara Balaguer and Czar Kristoff, TUNICA Magazine
Best Books 2015: Gerry Badger, photo-eye
Best Books 2015: Aaron Schuman, photo-eye
The Best Photography Books of 2015, Sean O’Hagan, The Guardian
The 16 Best Photobooks of 2015, Humble Arts Foundation