![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_11.jpg)
Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro
Electricity pylons, road-signs and rusty advertising plaques steal the spotlight from the Giza pyramids in these images by photographer Manuel Alvarez Diestro.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_2.jpg)
The series was shot 20 kilometres away from the towering structures, in the outskirts of Cairo.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_3.jpg)
Unlike pictures promoted by Egypt's tourist industry, these photographs depict the setting of the pyramids as an abandoned industrial wasteland.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_1.jpg)
Diestro previously documented growing high-rise cities in Asia for a separate photographic series - see our earlier story here.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_12.jpg)
See also: more photography stories on Dezeen.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_7.jpg)
Here's a short description of the project from the photographer:
Pyramids
This photographic series entitled “Pyramids” is a visual interpretation of Cairo’s past and present during the times of the Revolution.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_8.jpg)
My stay in Cairo after many years was getting to an end and felt like tackling for once the subject of the Pyramids of Giza, but to be represented in a new context not seen before.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_4.jpg)
Twenty kilometers away and after hours of walking I found and photographed what I thought to be a landscape full of symbols and strong visual juxtapositions.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_6.jpg)
This place became a “perfect escape” for several days where I could disconnect from the social unrest and the violence I was experiencing in the city.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_5.jpg)
I walked along cars and military trucks and looking perplexed to an epic view.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_9.jpg)
The pyramids were in the far distance and confronted with traffic signs, semi abandoned advertisement panels and electric posts that I was encountering on my way.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_13.jpg)
However, in the outskirts of Cairo this “collage” of symbols seems to suggest an uncertain future.
![Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro Pyramids by Manuel Alvarez Diestro](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Pyramids-by-Manuel-Alvarez-Diestro_10.jpg)