My fascination with the Egyptians

Photo Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images - MSNBC.com

Photo Credit: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters - MSNBC.com

Photo Credit: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP - MSNBC.com

As the riots and protests against the government continue in Egypt, I have to take a step back from what is going on in my life, with my photography business, and share why I am so hurt by what is happening in the Middle East. Growing up in Carmichael, there was a couple who lived across the street from my parents, who would travel to Egypt on a regular basis. My fascination with the Egyptian culture has been implanted in my head since I can first remember. Fascination that has grown with the stories that were told to me by Dave and Mary Goodman and Nube, an Egyptian friend of theirs, who came back to the US on many occasions with the Goodman's.

The pyramids, kings and queens, jewelry, mummies, tools, and luxuries of a group of people who lived more than 3,000 years ago has held my imagination for over twenty years. I have gone to see many exhibits of Egyptian artifacts from the past, studied Egyptian hieroglyphs and numerations, and have wanted to visit the pyramids since I can remember. Egypt has been the one civilization that has captivated my imagination my entire life. To watch the pain and destruction that is happening on that side of the world hurts me; even though I have never actually been there, I can still feel a strong connection to these people.

My heart goes out to the people of Egypt, and the photos I have seen on MSNBC.com speak for themselves. I go back to my beginning statement, I go back to the strong connection I am feeling as a photographer to these people, I go back to my passion for a people who are falling apart as I type this.

After attending a photography convention in San Antonio a few weeks back, and witnessing Harry Benson, one of the greatest photojournalists of my time, speak about the things he has witnessed, I can relate to the photojournalists in Egypt sharing these photos. I can relate on small scale by the short time I was a photographer for Public Affairs and the newspaper at my college, Sacramento State University. Listening to Benson speak, and now witnessing what is going on in Egypt, I am beginning to question where my photography is heading... Should I continue to pursue photojournalism? Should I continue to pursue weddings and portraits and the like? What exactly should I pursue?

These are just a few of the questions I have pondered over the past few days. It is after midnight in Cairo, dozens of people have died, and looters are rampant. Again, I say that my heart goes out to Egypt... and the people of Egypt.