Denis Dailleux - MISR

Collective outdoor course

Exhibition from June 21 to November 6, 2023

Abbaye Royale de l’Epau

Route de Changé, 72530 Yvré l’Evêque

Misr is the romanized Arabic name for Egypt. It all began in 1992 with an unexpected encounter on the Paris metro. It was love at first sight with Chérif, whom Denis left to join in Egypt. As soon as he stepped off the plane, he was seduced by the country.

“I immediately saw happiness in the streets, an enjoyment of the moment and a lot of eccentricity”. Denis Dailleux

On his return from his first visit – during which he took very few photographs – Denis felt the need to go back as soon as possible. He set aside some money and set off again, this time with the idea of photographing, too.

And so, since 1992, Denis Dailleux has tirelessly photographed this country, taking in both the bustle of Cairo’s working-class districts and the tranquility of the Egyptian provinces. His total immersion – he lived in Cairo for many years – gave him access to scenes of everyday life, in the street, in cafés, in workshops or on the banks of the Nile, to family or religious celebrations, but also – more rarely – to the intimate sphere of Egyptians, which he captured with a powerful and generous aesthetic, penetrating into their interiors.

Between Denis Dailleux and Cairo, there’s a real passion. A fascination both tender and restless for this unique place, for the magic of its lights, for its people – an atmosphere.

It’s this poetry and this sensitive love of Egypt that Denis Dailleux shares with us through this selection, or as Christian Caujolle so well puts it:

“What’s essential, in the end, is an atmosphere that leaves room for people. Denis Dailleux photographs people for whom he feels – and he expresses this simply and sensitively – sympathy and tenderness. In the balance of his well-composed, harmonious squares, without embellishments or effects, he lets the natural light draw their exact place. Looks, attitudes, sometimes details, they inhabit the space with ease.”

The hundreds of images he made in Egypt today constitute an exceptional testimony to the country’s popular culture, from the streets of Cairo to the palm groves of Saqqarah, “a veritable geography of love, a document of an Egypt that no longer exists”.