MARY ANN LYNCH

Entering Egypt  2000, 2001, 2002

Egypt and its people had fascinated me from childhood, when my worldly travels took place solely through the dual lenses of an old wooden stereoscope, or in the pages of the 19th-century illustrated travel books from my grandmother's library. Even so, I had never thought of actually traveling to see the pyramids.

Then in 1999 came a rare opportunity: to join thirty other people in a privately organized spiritual journey to Egypt, led by Isis, a healer and visionary from Glastonbury, England. We would travel for two weeks in Spring 2000. I could think of no more extraordinary way to mark so rare an occurrence as the beginning of the new millennium. In 2001 and 2002. I signed on again, each time with new groups, including some repeats.  I  photographed with a purpose beyond recording. My photography when I was with the group, done primarily with the Diana plastic camera, was inextricably connected to my spiritual/experiential reality. When we had free time I separated from the group and shot 35mm b&w to capture the realities of daily life on the streets, and of the Egyptian population. Returning to the States, I pored over and edited the Diana work exclusively, because it was when working with the Diana among antiquities that I had my most mind-and body-altering experiences.

M o r e  B a c k g r o u n d: Entering Egypt,  2000, 2001, and 2002

      In December 1999, I was in Glastonbury, England,where I had been photographing places connected with Arthurian legend. It was my good fortune to have found lodging at Shambhala, a health and healing retreat run by an extraordinary woman named Isis. She was soon to embark on her tenth journey to the Land of Pharaohs, leading a group of thirty people from several countries who shared an interest in alternative healing, creativity, and the betterment of our planet.
     A month later I was among them, dressing in white for temple visits--from one end of Egypt to the other. We went to Karnak, Abu Simbel, Memphis, Saqquara, Kom Ombo, Giza, Alexandria and more, including remote temples seldom visited. Isis as our guide and mentor attuned us to the spiritual significance of each place. During our down time at our hotel, those of us who signed up for individual Reiki , or Vortex healing sessions with Isis, experienced her remarkable healing energy first-hand. And several of us also chose to begin Reiki as well.

I returned to Egypt with Isis in 2001 and 2002, continuing my journeys--both outward and inward--and using a simple, low-tech Dana plastic camera to mediate the space inbetween and record a glimpse of what I was feeling even more than seeing, as I moved among sacred sites, temples, traveling the land of the pharoahs.  The experience of Egypt and Isis, deepened my inner world, awakening me to new dimensions of the self and my untapped abilities.

NEXT 2011- 2012/13 : Bringing forth Entering Egypt: Traveling the River of Light

My remarkable extended "pilgrimage," in three successive years, took me nearly a decade for me to fully process and to know how to put this significant body of work fully out into the world. After each of the first two trips, in 2000 and 2001, I had shown a few prints in exhibition, but post 9/11, with all the anti-Middle East sentiment and fear, was no time for me to even consider a major show. The next year, 2002, was a time for me to return to Egypt again, however. We considered ourselves goodwill ambassadors and we were welcomed as usual, especially given the severe decline in tourism. The theme of that trip was "The River of Light," and in our spiritual work we were tracking with other similar groups elsewhere, including those working for peace in Middle Eastern countries. When I returned home, I knew my traveling to Egypt had ended, at least until I could assemble and edit my photographs, transcribe my volumes of writing and journal-keeping, and determine how best and when to proceed to finished work in any form/format. What I learned continued to enrich my daily life. I felt a great responsibility to the work and to share this spiritual bounty with others, not only within the photographic world, but within other communities and audiences as well, including those in Egypt.  My task was to wait for the right time. I couldn't predict when that would come, but I was certain that when it did, I would immediately know.. Arab Spring and the revolt of the Egyptian people was that time. I shifted gears and started poring over my archives and files from Egypt. At long last, the work was leading me.

I am formulating Entering Egypt:Traveling the River of Light. This will include a book of photographs, an accompanying exhibition, and memoir. In addition to the Diana photographs of places of antiquity, I am also printing from the 35mm b&w negatives I made on each journey, when I separated from the group and photographed daily life. Drawing from both, I hope to create an experience that may move others in their own personal way.

My task now is to decide how to work with both the Diana images, made during our spiritual explorations into the power, magic and majesty of ancient Egypt; and with the 35mm images of the reality of present-day life in the Egyptian population, in the streets and local areas -- away from tourist sites. Together, the two bodies of work create a compelling, dualistic portrait of Egypt 2000-2002, especially when viewed from today's perspective, after the revolt of the Egyptian population in 2011 and the transition now taking place throughout the Middle East. 

I have my work cut out for me, and I expected no less.                                       

                                                                                                                  ~Mary Ann Lynch, 2011                                                             _______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Entering Egypt works are Chromogenic prints (C-prints), made by the photographer from black-and-white 120 Diana Camera negatives. Paper is Fuji Crystal Archive. Archival Ink Jet Prints and silver gelatin prints are also available. Editions are limited.

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