manuel alvarez diestro photographs living on the edge of cairo

manuel alvarez diestro photographs living on the edge of cairo
all images courtesy of manuel alvarez diestro

photography is an artistic medium through which the world can be explored and exposed in unique ways. this is what manuel alvarez diestro has done in places such as china, oman, and south korea. for this series, he travels to the human settlements on the hills surrounding the southeastern part of cairo. 

view informal settlements with central cairo in the back 

the artist describes the expedition as follows: ‘I walked from the central city to its margins and climbed up the rocks trough rubbish, abandoned possessions and debris and consequentially find the poorest neighborhoods in the metropolis. from the top, I could see a landscape of destruction reminiscent of those ones that take place after natural catastrophes. in this territory of permanent transformation people live at the edge of the city in large concentrations of informal housing.’ it is here that egyptian authorities are currently demolishing large portions of the territory and relocate citizens outside of its boundaries. thus, the images depict panoramas of massive decay where the rocks themselves engulf the metropolis.

transversal cut of cliff with rubish and view of the citadel in the back

informal housing settlement splitted after demolition

view of houses at the edge of the hills

rubbish on hill next to houses 

new apartment blocks

bed frame on the cliff

informal houses on the rocks

stones on cliff overlooking the city 

view of territory after settlement has been demolished

houses on the cliffs overlooking soccer field

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.