A shady rest

Outside most apartments in some parts of Cairo sits a bowab / doorman / guard. Sometimes they'll do errands or a bit of cleaning, collecting rubbish etc and screen your visitors, sometimes they'll smile only. And we pay a monthly fee.

This photo was taken up the road from home where the bowab sits on this old chair on the street corner under a shady tree. In Ramadan I would often see him sitting here reading the Koran.