“The life you always dreamed of”. “Cleaner, safer, and more beautiful environments”, The gigantic billboards alongside Cairo's Ring Road are overflowing with English slogans that attempt to sell a dream that virtually nobody in the city is able to afford. The Egyptian upper classes instigated an urban exodus, moving away from traditionally popular areas in the old city centre into an artificial environment, secluded from the world. The promises that are made when acquiring a home in one of these communities focus on a series of privileges that are usually impossible to find in an overpopulated city: privacy, green landscapes, space, and safety. To prevent these carefully constructed bubbles from bursting, the communities are all surrounded by a vast network of walls, cameras and an army of security personnel that guard the virtually impenetrable access gates.

Zaza accessed this hidden world of extremes. Her images show beautiful girls that are searching, attempting to construct an identity in an artificial, surreal world. The landscapes of the micro cities reflect an isolation that the photographer recognizes in the portraited girls. An almost eerie emptiness appears to pervade the images. Is this perfect world capable to actually fulfill the hopes and dreams these girls have?

(Ruth Vandewalle).