Kodak Agfa Presents : Photos of the year “2022 edition”

Another year-ender post I hope that inshallah it will be another tradition in Egyptian Chronicles: The photos of the year.

This is a subjective post because I chose those photos as my favourite for the year 2022, they represent major events in the year which I found significant and they are not too many.

They are without order. I apologize for that. 

For me, this is the photo of the year 2022.

A four years old girl working in a brick factory in Afghanistan sleeping 
after work on one August afternoon "AP"

That photo summarizes the Afghani ongoing forgotten tragedy.

It also represents everything that is wrong in this world my afraid on every level whether social injustice or economic injustice or political injustice.

The whole photo story is heartbreaking.

The photo story is available on AP and those sad photos were taken by photographer Ebrahim Noroozi.

I pray those children will have a better year and future this year.

I do not know the source of this photo or who actually took and I hope that he or she is okay because they are in China. It was taken in Shanghai during the anti- Zero-Covid-19 policy protests.

A Chinese man and woman breaking a very long-time taboo in Shanghi 

Needless to say that this Zero-Covid policy proved its failures on many levels and it proved to be costly for the Chinese regime because in a very bad irony, new variants or variants appeared and it seems that we are in front of some history repeating. The WHO demanded the Chinese of more transparency. 

The Chinese government or regime or Xi Jinping's administration is facing a lot of challenges from inside and outside China. 

Outside, it is known who and why but inside, it was a surprising scene seeing Jinping facing opposition from his own party "After all who let videos and photos leak from China's great firewall to the big outside world except someone from inside the regime"

But Jinping won over his enemies inside the party and even sent a message to the World or the West in particular not to put so much hope, he got rid of them in front of the camera in October as it seems.

Former Chinese President Hu Jintao leaves his seat next to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the closing ceremony of the Community Party Congress in Beijing "Reuters" 

We will leave China for the United Kingdom which had a very unusual year by all measures in 2022. From political and economic crises to the death of its greatest sovereign and its symbol Queen Elizabeth II in September. 

In June 2022, Queen Elizabeth II was the first British Monarch ever in history to celebrate her Plantium jubilee. 

Queen Elizabeth II waving to the British public on the last day of the Jubilee 
celebrations from Buckingham Palace's balcony on 5 June 2022 

The last photo of Queen Elizabeth was taken on 8 September 2022 when she invited Liz Truss to form a government at Balmoral in Scotland. 

The last photo of Queen Elizabeth II alive with former 
PM Liz Truss by Royal Photographer Jane Barlow 

Truss herself would be the country's shortest sitting Prime Minister, only remembered to be the Prime Minister only who oversaw the Royal funeral of the century. "The lettuce outlasted Truss"

The funeral indeed was a scene or scenes to remember. The most striking scene of that live "The Crown" show for me was how the London Tower guards aka Yoemen rested after guarding her coffin.

The guards rest and watch the TV while waiting for their turn 
"British Ministry of Defense"

For the rest of the World, the UK showed how much it was so traditionalist when it comes to its traditions and customs of burying its sovereign. 

The coffin of Queen Elizabeth is carried out of Westminster Abbey after the service
 on the day of her state funeral and burial, on September 19, 2022, in London

Aside from celebrating the long legacy of Queen Elizabeth II, the rest of the World especially in the third world remembered how jewels of the British Crown were also stolen from their land. 

Queen Elizabeth II was not the only leader to pass away in 2022, we had others too above them Late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. 

Abe was assassinated in the middle of some street in July in Japan while giving a speech at an election rally.

That was among the last photos of the late Shinzo Abe while giving a speech.

Shinzo Abe in his last speech his moment "AFP"

Abe was assassinated by a Japanese local in the heart of Japan's Peaceful Deer City aka Nara City. "I have been there and I tell you it is among the last places I would imagine to witness an assassination like that" 

At first, there was not much said and I remember how everyone had a theory. I had my theory that it could be China getting rid of one of the most vocal people in the past decade who worked hard to restore Japan's military powers to stop the Chinese influence in the region. I even thought it could be Putin destabilizing the world as usual. 

Attempting to save Abe in the street surrounded the public and guards till an air ambulance
would come and transfer him to the hospital as he lost a lot of blood "AP"

It turned out that  41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami shot down Abe because he held a grudge against the infamous Unification Church aka the Moonies that seemed to have a relation with the late Premier and his family or rather used to donate to his campaign and his party. 

That assassination opened a dialogue in Japanese society about the relationship between the infamous cult and the Japanese political class. 

In July another country in Asia that is far luckier and poorer than Japan was hit hard. Sri Lanka can be on the other opposite of Japan, unfortunately. 

In early July, angry protesters from the public stormed the Presidential Palace and other governmental buildings in Colombo over the failed economic policies. 

The protesters inside the presidential palace in Colombo "Reuters" 

The Srilankans were not the only angry protesters in Asia that create headlines in July. "Something is always wrong with July"

Iraqi protesters are inside the House of Representatives
inside Baghdad's green zone "AP"

Angry supporters of Iraqi religious and political leader Moqtada al-Sadr stormed the Iraqi Parliament inside Baghdad's green zone to protest the nomination of a Prime Minister they do not like. 

The old lady spoke on the telephone
of the human rights and civil society 
adviser at the Parliament 

That crisis was over within days but it left interesting photos as you can tell. 

We are still in Asia and angry protesters but this time they are angry depositors in Lebanon who can't take their money from the Banks aka the cartel banks as they call them. 

In August, Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein made headlines not only in Lebanon but the whole world as the depositor who turned from a hostage taker into a national hero for demanding his money by force. 

Bassam Hussein in his moment of becoming an anti-hero that Lebanon 
was looking for "Getty"

Bassam Hussein opened the door and other Lebanese depositors followed the same path when in extreme need. 

Lebanon does not suffer from regional political problems but also it suffers from an economically elite class that actually needs to be put behind bars for real. 

Moving south in the Levant, we stop at Palestine's West Bank in May during the huge public funeral of the late Al-Jazeera Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh after her cold-blooded murder by Israeli occupation forces. 

The Israeli forces attacked the public funeral of Shireen in East Jerusalem 
in front of the whole world "Reuters"

The funeral was another evidence of the brutality and inhumanity of the Israeli forces caught on camera on the air !! 

Another moment at the funeral showed the whole world the civility of Israeli forces
and government but as usual they got away with it "AP"

But nothing happened and Israel got away from it but her dog Felfel knows his mom has gone and he knows her images very well. 

Felfel and Shireen somewhere 

Okay, we will rest here with deaths and assassinations and politics with nice photos from the Hajj season 2022 in July and the Day of Arafah.

Pilgrims at Mount Arafah by AP's Amr Nabil 

And how can anyone ignore that cutie-pie and his beautiful smile !? 

Baby Haj with his daddy "Saudi SPA News agency"

Now back to politics, the art of possibility where your enemy can be your ally. 

In June, the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamed Al-Thani visited Egypt and met with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for the first time since the Ula reconciliation declaration. 

Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamed in his meeting with his President 
Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo in June

2022 was one year to remember for many Qataris as Sheikh Tamim proved along with his regime that his small country can continue to be a regional political as well as economic player.

The peak for Qatar was hosting the biggest sports world event from November till December aka FIFA World Cup 2022 "It got higher viewership than any other sports event including the Olympics officially"  successfully and just like Qatar it was an event full of controversy and important shots. 

Politics including human rights were there before the launch of the tournament and the cameras were there. 

We got shots like Abdel Fattah El-Sisi meeting for the first time his Turkish counterpart Ragip Tayeb Erdogan on the sideline of the World Cup 2022 inauguration party

Erdogan and El-Sisi were not only the two opposing figures meeting at World Cup but fans from countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran met and enjoyed together the tournament. 

Saudi fans along with an Iranian fan in Doha
"By someone on Twitter" 

Also, Moroccan and Algerian fans celebrated the World together, they already have lots of common things aside from football and neighbourhood; they also have Palestine to defend. 

A Moroccan fan with an Algerian fan 
and between them a Palestinian fan in Doha 
"By someone on Twitter"

Speaking about Moroccan fans, we can't ignore the great achievement reached by the Moroccan National Football team and how they became the first Arab and African team to land fourth place in the World Cup. 

We can't ignore also the photos of their players celebrating their victories with none other than their parents especially their mothers who attended the games. 

Boufal and his mom by Mahmoud Khaled 

Despite Western media focused on the abuses against the migrants in Qatar during the preparations for the World Cup, some western media outlets event went a bit far and accused the Gulf state of using the Asian brown migrants in filling the empty fan seats in stadiums without thinking for one moment, that those Asian brown migrants from the Indian Subcontinent were actually fans of the most popular game in the world and they had at last to attended its greatest event level. 

Migrant workers in Doha watching one of the games in the stadium 

Speaking about Moroccan Mothers, I can't ignore that beautiful Moroccan mom who celebrated her national team victory in Rabat on 20 December and her beautiful smile was captured by the lens of the amazing Mosab El-Shamy of AP.

A Moroccan Mother celebrating a football victory 
in Rabat "Mosab El-Shamy for AP" 

From football to swimming or rather synchronizing swimming and that moment at the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Budapest, Hungary in June. 

American swimmer Anita Alvarez was rescued from the bottom of the pool by her Spanish coach Andrea Fuentes when she fainted. It was one hell of a moment but also full of hope that there are others who can save you when in a trouble. 

There are other photos this year that show hope in the grimmest and narrowest places and darkest moments for example in Morocco and the incident of Rayan of Chefchaouen in February.

Another photo by the amazing Mosab El-Shamy shows the rescue operation 
that millions around the globe followed live on TV

The incident ended in tragedy but it did not only bring together the Arab and Islamic world, but it brought the whole world together in praying for the safety of that small late shepherd boy in the Moroccan mountains. 

That love was one of the brightest moments in the world. 

Iran had a tragedy that resulted actually in hope despite everything. 

An unveiled and veiled girls in a university in Tehran 
"Unknown on Twitter" 

What is happening in Iran is not against religion or Islam, it is against the dictatorship of the Iranian regime and the public as well as the Iranian regime both know and realize that. Here are two girls showing what Iran should look like as a normal country and society. The unveiled and veiled girls walk together. 

According to some tweeps in Tehran, that scene of unveiled women and girls is becoming more and more regular in public streets and areas. I can't consider this a victory because there are still a huge number of protesters sentenced to death for participating in the Mahsa Amini protests movement. 

The Iranian regime is making those protesters an example and the matter is not over yet. 

Another bright moment in the world in 2022 was the return and re-election of Brazilian President Lula De Silva and another populist was defeated in October. 

Lula and his supporters in a rally in September in Brazil 
"AP"

South America is happy for the return of Lula yet on the other side of the world, in the old continent Italian elected a neo-fascist populist as Prime Minister. 

Former ItalianPM Berlusconi and current Italian PM Meloni in Rome 
in October "EPA 

Meloni is clear in her instance about the foreign migrants flocking into her country as a gate to Europe and I would dare say that it is among the reasons why she was elected. 

But the dilemma here is that the corrupted governments of the south are the true reason behind the migration of the South people to the North across the Mediterranean. 

The illegal immigration from the South Mediterranean to the North is back in force due to the global economic crisis. Italy , Greece , Malta and Cyrpus are back to complaint. 

Graphic : Dead bodies floating in the Mediterrenean in October "AP"

Now there is few interest globally about the American migrants or Central and South American migrants heading to the land of dreams , land of opportunities aka the United States through Mexico in big caravans despite the role they play in the American policies right and eventually who controls the Washington and the free Western world too !!

Through mud running from hell to other hell "AP"

It is like the United States face its own policies in Central and South America eventually by supporting military coups and corrupted politicians. 

Getting in Estados Unidos in any possible way "AP"

In some ironic way , I believe those South and Centeral Americans are getting their revenge from the Washington Elites after decades of controlling their destiny through their migrants who are now a major issue in the US elections and we found US alt-right clowns going to Washington elected by Amerians freely to save them from that invasion coming from the South. 

Think about it. 

Knocking at the doors of heaven in Taxes "AP"

It is worth to mention that Egyptian migrants are back to top the charts again with the bad economic situation in the country. 

In 2022 , the country paid a triple price for the economic repressucions of coronavirus pandemic , Russian invasion to Ukraine and wrong economic policies like the Letter of credit crisis thing that led to endless crisis in imports affecting the market , industries and even exports. 

We even found ourselves in front of crises even in items we export or used to export like rice and upscale supermarket chains like Seoudi instructs that customers on how many rice packets they should buy . 

Seoudi viral rice instruction 

There were sad events in 2022 and that fire in the small church in Giza's Imbaba in August was above of them all but some how it seems to be forgotten. 

From the funeral of the victims "Reuters 

Most of the victims were elderly and children. The fire was due to electricity malfunction in the church located in a poor working class. 

When it comes to photos in 2022 , it seemed that amateur photographer Gamal Mubarak loved the camera attention since October when he suddenly decided to celebrate the October war anniversary and pay his respect to the fallen heroes. 

Gamal Mubarak at the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier in Cairo in October 
"Cairo Photo"

One of the photos I personally loved in 2022 that gave me and others let hope was the photo of former MP Ziyad el-Eleimy with his mother Ikram Youssef after being granted a presidential pardon in October also days before the launch of the 27th session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Sharm El-Sheikh aka COP27.

Ikram Youssef and her son former MP Ziyad El-Eleimy 
"Facebook"

The presidential pardon of El-Eleimy and the release of other political detainees pending investigations since April and the re-launch of the Presidential pardon committee did not succeed in making the human rights issue to disappear from the world's biggest meeting of governments and activists in Sharm. 

Sanaa Seif leading the protest in solidarity of her brother and other detainees in Egypt 
at the COP27 with activists from around the globe "AP"

As I said before it became Alaa Abdel Fattah COP thanks to his sisters and hundreds of activists from around the globe who totally understand the true meaning of activism , freedom of expression and human rights as essential thing to defend environment. 

Sharm El-Sheikh's COP27 by AFP 

Now speaking about environment and if you are kind enough to continue reading this very long "hopefully not boring post", check those two photos then think again about climate change and how dangerous it has come. 

The Island state of Madagscar facing drought "Reuters
Yes, Madagscar of the famous animation films of thick jungles 

A 3,400 old city unearthed in Iraq as you can see due to extreme drought

P.S. I did not include any photos from Ukraine or Russia because I feel it is too hard to choose the best photo when we are speaking about a war zone.