Street Graphics Egypt

Rating:
Summary: Nice, but too obviously an outsider's view
Review: Given the fairly limited audience a book like this would appeal to, we can't have it all, and this is a very good snapshot of modern Egyptian graphic arts, especially advertising. That said, too many of the images are of non-Egyptian products (foreign movies, foreign products, Coke), or images that are otherwise aimed at foreigners (museum passes, souvenir shops, tacky t-shirts, etc). Now obviously there's something to be said about the clash of cultures, but pop-culture savvy Egyptians and long-time residents/travellers will be disappointed by this book. It looks too obviously like the result of a quick tour of the country. Dawson would greatly have benefitted from some advice from some of Egypt's hipper residents.