Mohamed Mahdy

Moon Dust focuses on Wadi El-Qamar (Moon Valley), a densely populated residential district in western Alexandria, Egypt’s second-largest city. Nearly 60,000 people live beneath the black clouds of smoke pouring from the chimneys of the Alexandria Portland Cement Company, a subsidiary of Titan, the Greek cement and building materials producer. The first time I entered Wadi El-Qamar was in 2015, when a close friend told me that his younger sister was dying from asthma and that her family had no choice but to leave. I was nineteen and a fledgling documentary photographer, and nothing could have prepared me for the scene that greeted me: windows sealed with plastic bags, houses cloaked in cement dust and children coughing in the streets. Leave your window open for an hour and half an inch of dust will coat everything in your home. Those living near the factory must also endure coal fumes, vibrations strong enough to crack walls, and constant noise pollution. The crisis is both environmental and social. As their health deteriorates, many residents can no longer work or support their families. Children suffer from asthma, lung cancer, and infections of the eyes, ears, and throat. In March 2018, an appellate court found the factory guilty of “causing environmental pollution and violating the neighbouring residents’ right to health”, yet no action has been taken to this day despite years of mobilisation by residents and NGOs. Today, the project stands as testimony and memorial. Many of the people I photographed have passed away. Their stories remain in every image, in every layer of dust on the film.