The social use and occupation rooftops in Cairo has changed considerably over the past century. Once used solely by the family who owned the house, high-rise apartment buildings with multiple occupancies offered space for laundry, a dwelling for the building’s doorkeeper and, since the 1970s, more improvised housing.
The photograph is from the series Under the Same Sky: Rooftops of Cairo. While living on the 14th floor of one such building, Randa Shaath began photographing different scenes of daily life across Cairo’s rooftops. Her series offers an array of vistas of people at work, rest and play – with some taken from an aerial perspective, others in close proximity.
Randa Shaath (b. 1963, Philadelphia) is a photographer based in Cairo. She has worked as a photographer for Agence France Press in Egypt and Gaza, and for the Al-Ahram Weekly Newspaper and worked as Photo Editor for Al Shoroukdaily newspaper for six years. She currently trains photographers for the Arab Documentary Photography Program.
This photograph featured as part of the Touchstone programme (2012-2020). Each display consisted of a single photographic work on the Eranda studio floor where visitors were invited to respond to the question 'What do you see?' using the cards and pencils provided. A bench was placed in front of the work, encouraging people to spend a little longer than they might usually. The programme was part of a wider series of projects and activities related to visual literacy.
A selection of audience responses to the question 'What do you see?'
Installation views of Randa Shaath, Under the Same Sky: Rooftops of Cairo (2002-2003) © Kate Elliott
