Cour du Palais Rhamsès-Meiamoun, à Médinet-habou (Thèbes) (Restes d'une Eglise Copte) 1849 - 1850

This photograph captures the Cour du Palais Rhamsès-Meiamoun in Thebes, taken by Maxime Du Camp in the mid-19th century. It’s a stark image of colonial encounter, revealing more than just ancient architecture. Du Camp, traveling with Gustave Flaubert, was on a mission to document Egypt, and in doing so, he framed its landscape through a distinctly European lens. The crumbling walls and the fallen pillars speak not only of time but of the complicated layers of cultural appropriation. Egypt, a land of rich history, becomes a subject of European study and possession. Look closely, and you might feel the weight of this historical dynamic, the shadows of power and the subtle violence of representation. How does seeing this place through Du Camp's eyes change our understanding of both the colonizer and the colonized? The photograph serves as a reminder of the gaze that seeks to capture and define.