Description:
five Arab men with two camels in foreground, pyramid in distance
Label Text:
The Pyramid of Cheops rises impressively behind three camels and five local guides in this example of a popular function of nineteenth-century commercial photography: supplying postcards and souvenir photographs to tourists. Customers chose from catalogs of existing images, such as this one, and assembled them into albums.
Fervent interest in Middle Eastern cultures motivated travelers and ethnologists to visit the great ancient and contemporary cities and to record Islamic and ancient architecture and monuments, local festivals, products, and people. The same interest inspired writers, musicians, and artists to borrow themes and designs from those cultures, in a trend called “Orientalism.” Early photography of the Middle East often reinforced stereotypes of its “exotic” character. Photography writer Michelle L. Woodward asserts, though, that the Sébah studio sometimes adopted a more objective style, which she calls “community portraiture,” presenting individuals within their communities rather than posing subjects as ethnic or vocational types.
MD, 2011
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2000.201 |
