The oculist

A few days ago I received an email from a woman called Leila Johnston, asking me if she could use the photo below for a piece she had written.

She also sent me the article, which unfortunately isn't online, so I can't link to it, but here's a excerpt:

"When the writer first arrived in Cairo some years ago, she was intrigued by the black signs written in elegant white letters, some of them proclaiming the presence of an OCULIST. Failing to realise that the term meant 'eye doctor' or 'optometrist' to be precise, she associated it instead with the OCCULT and the practitioners of that hidden area of knowledge; imagining a mysterious twilight world peopled by elderly eccentrics holding séances in darkened rooms; and ladies with names like Madame Sesostris, wearing long strings of beads, who have a talent for reading the coffee cups."

Funny thing is: I'm pretty sure I thought exactly the same when I saw that sign, and that's probably why I ended up taking the photo. Hah.