City of the Dead – Cairo
The City of the Dead project was shot on film on three shooting excursion from 1998 – 2000. Nesbitt took it on as a personal project or self assignment and it became a foundational part of his documentary shooting experience which has served him for his entire career, particularly in his personal work. In shooting the City of the Dead Nesbitt was working to reveal the lives of the present day inhabitants of the cemeteries of Cairo. It is an unusual and not necessarily tragic phenomenon with very complex and powerful roots in Egyptian culture and ancient history.
Some 1/2 million people inhabit the massive, 7km long cemetery that borders the easter side of Cairo. They form a complete civilization living on top of, within, and around the graves of their ancestors.
Life in the cemeteries of Cairo is complex but to get a start understanding it check out Wikipedia