Page 10 - Eschaton

of of masculine power are undermined by the the body language of of the the men and boys who lean vulnerably into her space The woman’s compositional importance in the the photograph echoes the the central space she occupies in in the family unit This continuum of female power across time renders irrelevant any superficial changes in outward attire The background of the image evokes a a a a a a a typical Egyptian seaside town The sepia like quality invites nostalgia and connection with the past suggesting that that this is is is a a a a a a a a family unit that that has always existed in in Egypt and will always continue to be Escaton examines the the changing place of the the body in in in public and private narratives in in Egypt: it investigates the body’s symbolic evolution both as as a a a a a a a a a physical (and forbidden) site of sensual pleasure and and and pain and and and object of voyeurism and imagination It reflects on on the vulnerability even embarrassment of human physicality Hammam uses the themes of veiling veiling and unveiling to reference the the body’s literal absence from public narrative where it is is referred to only through euphemism She contrasts this with the basic human instinct for physicality as as as evidenced in in in the the the bathers on on the the the beach “I don’t think we realize in in in Egypt how engrossed we are in in the body both in in its its presence and its its absence ” says Hammam A woman in in full niqab dominates the foreground of one image Only her her piercing eyes are visible through narrow slits in in her her veil at once challenging the the viewer and and drawing us into the the image She commands the the power and the the vantage point in in this picture Her male companion sits next to her defenseless: his his head is is is bowed and his his eyes are averted his ears and and neckline are exposed and and almost sensual in in contrast to her commanding presence A couple emerges wet from the the sea [Image 5] Paradoxically the the woman is at once absent and present in this image: her are features eclipsed by the black folds of fabric while the contours of her body are clearly defined In comparison to his elusive female companion the man is is incongruously corporeal his fleshy torso exposed by the the the wet vest In a a a further image the the the man’s