Egypt Through the Lens: Conflict

Egypt Through the Lens is a four-part series about how photographers recorded the modern history of Egypt over 150 years – its kings, presidents, politics, conflicts and cinema.

The second episode sees how war photographers captured key moments of Egypt’s history, from the earliest British occupation in 1882 to the Arab-Israeli wars of the late 20th century. Acclaimed photojournalist Samir Ghazouli draws on his family’s extensive archive to show the development of war photography in Egypt. He reveals iconic images from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the rise of a young Egyptian army officer Gamal Abdel Nasser from war hero to president, the Suez Crisis and both the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars, where photographs vividly captured the contrasting emotions of victory and defeat.