Egyptische koopman en zijn vrouw c. 1860 - 1870

This is a stereoscopic image, likely from the late 19th century, presenting us with a constructed scene of an Egyptian merchant and his wife. The sepia tones and the composition immediately suggest a staged exoticism. The photograph's construction, with its posed figures and arranged props, directs our attention not to authentic representation but rather to the performance of identity. The very structure of the stereoscopic format implies a dual perspective, a doubling that destabilizes any claim to a singular truth. Consider the semiotics at play: the merchant’s attire, his wife’s veil, and the setting itself are all signifiers. Are these signs reflective of genuine cultural details, or are they elements of a constructed fiction? Does the photographic medium itself – with its promise of indexical truth – complicate or reinforce the exoticism on display? Ultimately, the photograph functions as a complex sign, one that invites us to question the relationship between representation, cultural identity, and the gaze of the viewer.