Mosque of Sultan Hamed c. 1870 - 1875

Editor: This is “Mosque of Sultan Hamed,” a photograph dating back to the 1870s, by Pascal Sébah. It’s an albumen print, so the sepia tones give it a very dreamlike quality. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: Oh, it's that delicate dance between presence and absence, isn't it? The grand mosque looms, solid and eternal, but the soft focus and pale palette give it this ethereal feel, like a half-remembered dream. Do you feel that play of light, that hazy atmosphere lending the sacred site a sense of something ancient, whispered rather than proclaimed? Editor: Yes, exactly! It's both there and not there. Is that sense of looking at the past why Sébah chose this technique, do you think? Curator: Perhaps. Or perhaps it’s Sébah’s lens, capturing a romantic vision of the Orient for Western eyes, playing with that delicate tension between reality and exotic fantasy. Consider the tree, seemingly bending to embrace the building, adding another layer of mystique, nature almost reverent. Does that touch upon the human, the natural, the sacred merging, for you? Editor: It definitely does. I hadn’t really thought about the tree like that. It’s easy to get lost in the architecture, and then almost overlook the landscape element. It feels like you’re both documenting something but also interpreting it through the soft focus. Curator: Beautifully put. Perhaps all photography is a form of interpretation, blurring the line between objective record and personal vision, especially back then when techniques were so different. Isn’t that lovely to ponder? Editor: Absolutely! It makes you wonder what Sébah himself felt looking through the lens. Thanks! Curator: Indeed. It opens new windows, doesn't it? Thank you, too.