How Egypt Looks to the World: A Talk with Getty Images' Rebecca Swift
How Egypt Looks to the World: A Talk with Getty Images' Rebecca Swift
When Rebecca Swift speaks about images, she's not talking about pixels and resolutions. She's talking about power - who holds it, who shapes it, and what stories make it past the gatekeepers.
As Senior Vice President of Creative Insight at Getty Images, one of the largest and most influential visual media archives in the world, Swift has spent her career studying the mechanics of representation: who gets seen, how they're portrayed, and what that visibility means.
This week, she was in Cairo as part of Cairo Photo Week - a city-wide celebration of photography and visual culture that's become a key meeting ground for emerging creatives from across the region. Speaking to CairoScene during her visit, Swift reflected on the unique energy of Egypt's creative community and the importance of platforms like Getty evolving to better reflect the richness of underrepresented perspectives.
'There's a hunger here,' she noted. 'A boldness in how Egyptian photographers and visual storytellers are showing the world who they are - and who they've always been.'
For decades, Egypt has often been viewed through a narrow, orientalist lens - pyramids, poverty, revolution. But the new wave of creators is shifting that. They're capturing Cairo's street style with the same reverence once reserved for ancient monuments. They're documenting joy, nuance, absurdity, softness. And perhaps most importantly, they're doing it on their own terms.
Getty Images, long regarded as the global default for editorial and commercial visual media, is increasingly opening space for these perspectives. Through contributor outreach, partnerships, and narrative-driven briefs that center local authenticity, the platform is re-examining what 'stock' should look like - and who it should speak for.
Swift acknowledged that while progress has been made, the work of rebalancing representation is ongoing. It's about Egyptian creatives taking back authorship and deciding how their culture is framed on the global stage. For a country that has always been photogenic, perhaps the next frontier is not being seen - but being seen accurately.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Egypt Today
10 hours ago
- Egypt Today
A Legendary Moment with Adel Emam and Samiha Ayoub
A rare glimpse of two icons — Adel Emam and the late Samiha Ayoub, captured in a timeless photo that celebrates the golden era of Egyptian theatre and cinema.
Watani
14 hours ago
- Watani
Samiha Ayoub (1932 – 2025) Iconic actress dies
The Lady of Arab Theatre, the legendary veteran Egyptian actress Samiha Ayoub (1932 – 2025) has departed our world, leaving behind a void difficult to fill. 'Her works will remain beacons lighting the path for future generations, and her memory will remain eternal in the hearts of her admirers.' With these words Egypt's Minister of Culture, Ahmed Fouad Hanno, mourned Ms Ayoub who died in her home in the Cairo upscale district of Zamalek on 3 June 2025 at the age of 93. She was a prolific actress who has to her credit the longest artistic career of a female actor in the history of Arab theatre and cinema. Her career spanned over 450 works, including 44 films, 220 TV series, and some 115 radio dramas. Her works varied from the classic to the modern, and from the tragic to the comic, each role played with legendary mastery. Throughout her life, she richly enhanced the cultural and artistic scene in Egypt and the Arab World. 'The late actress,' Mr Hanno read, 'was a dedicated, creative national artist who devoted her life to art and gifted her audience an exceptional journey of creativity and uniqueness.' Mr Hanno offered his sincere condolences to her family, friends, and fans, praying that God grants her His mercy. Samiha Ayoub was born in the middle-class Shubra district of Cairo in 1932 She studied at a Catholic girls' school in Cairo. Her first acting role came when she was only 15; she played Mary Magdalene in the 1938 Egyptian production ++The Life and Passion of the Lord Christ++. Ms Ayoub became a member of the Zaky Tulaimat Theatre Group whose founder Tulaimat became pivotal in her acting career. Tulaimat was an Egyptian actor and director, and famously a pioneer of Egyptian theatre. He founded the School of Theatre and the Institute of Dramatic Arts in Cairo. In 1947, Ms Ayoub played a role in Mohamed Abdel-Gawad's film ++al-Mutasharrida (The Homeless++ which marked an early breakthrough in her career. Encouraged by Tulaimat, Ms Ayoub joined the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in 1949, where he continued to mentor her alongside other renowned Egyptian artists. From 1972 to 1975, Ms Ayoub managed The Modern Theatre, and from 1975 to 1985, she was the director of Egypt's iconic al-Qawmy Theatre (The National Theatre). In 2015, she received the Nile Award in the Arts, and in the same year, the large hall in the National Theater was named after her, in honour of her outstanding acting career and her contributions to the theatrical arts in Egypt. She continued to be active until her final years. Her name drew crowds of spectators to theatres, her acting moved hearts and her strong, warm voice carried faithful expression. In 2021, Ms Ayoub was honoured at the Sharm al-Sheikh Theatre Festival for Youth, and remained honorary president throughout the following years. 'Deep inside me is this very humble person who feels she has not done much. When standing on stage, I find my strength; it is in front of the audience that I am alive; the presence of the audience allows me to create the true character that I portray,' she said during one of the symposiums in 2021. Samiha Ayoub was married four timesShe leaves behind two sons: Alaa Mahmoud Mursi and Mahmoud Mohsen Sarhan, and one grandson Youssef Alaa Mursi. Watani International 3 June 2025 Comments comments Tags: Ekhlass AtallahSamiha Ayoub (1932 - 2025)
CairoScene
17 hours ago
- CairoScene
A Shrine for Sayyed Darwish is Rising From the Ashes in Kom El Dikka
A Shrine for Sayyed Darwish is Rising From the Ashes in Kom El Dikka In Alexandria's Kom al-Dikka neighbourhood, a plot of land once reduced to a garbage dump and overrun by livestock is now being cleared to make way for something altogether different: a museum honouring Sayyed Darwish, the composer whose music helped shape modern Egyptian identity. The transformation is being spearheaded by Sīrat al-Eskandareyya, a grassroots cultural initiative with an eye for overlooked urban narratives—and a penchant for turning chance encounters into long-term projects. The idea was born not out of a state mandate or a sweeping national campaign, but from a conversation on the street. In 2020, Mina Zaki, the founder of Sīrat al-Eskandareyya, happened to be visiting Kom al-Dikka when he was approached by an elderly man, Ali Shetiwi. Shetiwi introduced himself as the son of the original landowner of the site where Sayyed Darwish—often called the father of Egyptian popular music—was born and raised. That was all it took. 'Why not turn this place into a heritage site? A museum?' Zaki recalled. The house itself had long been demolished. In its place stood a vacant lot filled with 12 tonnes of waste and makeshift pens for goats and sheep. But the history beneath the surface remained. It would take five years of effort to turn that question into a plan. The team had to navigate a complex legal landscape, including the daunting task of locating and convincing 17 different heirs of the property to sign off on the project. That milestone was only reached two weeks ago, clearing the way for construction to begin. The museum is being designed by architect Karim El Shabouri, whose previous work includes the Umm Kulthum Museum, the Naguib Mahfouz Museum, and the Museum of the Revolutionary Command Council in Cairo. This time, he's opting for a simple, two-story wooden structure—not a reconstruction of Darwish's original home, but a space designed to hold something more dynamic. 'The museum won't look like the house,' Zaki explained. 'It's not about preservation for its own sake. It's about creating an experience.' Inside, visitors will find a curated journey through Sayyed Darwish's life and work: rare photographs, personal possessions, and most notably, a restored gramophone with original records that will play his compositions. The museum will focus on delivering an immersive, audio-visual experience inspired by places like the Beethoven House in Bonn, rather than the more archival, document-heavy approach seen in museums like the Cavafy House nearby. There's a quiet pragmatism to Zaki's approach. When asked why Sayyed Darwish was chosen, his answer is refreshingly honest. 'It just so happened that he was born on land we could access,' he said. 'I like his music, sure—I grew up with it, like everyone did. But honestly, the reason we're doing this is because we could.' This spirit of serendipity runs through much of Zaki's work. Sīrat al-Eskandareyya is itself an offshoot of Al-Gawla, a free walking tour initiative he launched in 2017. Over the years, Al-Gawla managed to organize 325 visits for over 40,000 guests across 17 governorates, all without charging a single pound. The new initiative—Sīrat al-Eskandareyya, or The Life of Alexandria—was launched in early 2025, in collaboration with a similar project in Cairo. Its goal: to bring hidden histories to light through storytelling, spatial reclamation, and community engagement. In the case of the Darwish museum, that engagement extends beyond the museum walls. The site is currently bordered by collapsing tenements that pose a threat to public safety—and to the future of the museum itself. 'The surrounding buildings are in terrible condition. The governorate needs to intervene,' Zaki said. 'We've cleared the site, but it's just one part of the larger urban puzzle.' Still, the symbolic weight of what's happening in Kom al-Dikka is hard to ignore. Sayyed Darwish, who died in 1923 at the age of 31, left behind a body of work that resonated across social classes and political movements. His melodies were adopted by labor unions and protestors alike. His influence seeped into Egypt's national anthem. For decades, his story has lived in concert halls and classroom recitals, but not in the place that shaped him. That's about to change. And while Zaki resists grandiose language—insisting that he's not motivated by nostalgia or nationalism—there's a clear sense that something important is being reclaimed. Asked whether he believes the museum could inspire similar projects in other neighborhoods or cities, he replied without hesitation: 'Of course.' If that happens, it may be because of more than just the building itself. It may be because someone paused, listened to an old man tell a story, and decided that even a demolished house full of garbage could be a starting point.
