Barbara and I had spent several days in Alexandria, and were traveling back to Cairo to catch a flight home. Somehow we heard about this Coptic Monastery in the Nitrian Desert, established in the 4th century. It’s about halfway between Alexandria and Cairo, so rather than taking the train we hired a car service to drive us back, with a stop at the monastery along the way. It’s a long way from any substantial population center, so there were few people there, some curious visitors like us, and a few monks going about their daily routine. What appealed to me most was the interaction of the strong desert sunlight and the forms of the structures, some dating back to the first millennium. The scene reminded me of some of the classic photographs of the adobe buildings in the U.S. southwest, like the Hopi Pueblo at Taos, NM.

To see more images from our visit, https://www.billdurrence.com/index/G0000qtAFJjpwDI0

I had just finished helping lead a photography workshop in Egypt, and Barbara and I were headed to Alexandria for a few days on our own. As we waited that morning to catch our train north from Cairo, I started killing time by photographing the surrounding space. Some of my favorite images over the years have come from this regular activity–avoiding boredom. The Eagles song “Take it Easy” has some great wisdom (“Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy….”), and a suggestion that was great advice for this location, “Just find a place to make your stand, and take it easy.” There was this wonderful shaft of light so I just camped out near it and shot as passengers left incoming trains and crossed the platform into the station.

To see more from that morning: https://www.billdurrence.com/index/G0000zlV2rXnHm.Y