Vue Panoramique Prise de la Citadelle c. 19th century

This albumen print, titled "Panoramic View from the Citadel," was taken in Egypt, likely in the 1880s, by the Abdullah Frères, a company run by three Armenian brothers. The photograph presents a bird's-eye view of Cairo, dominated by the architecture of the Citadel, a historic fortification. The image creates meaning through its very composition. It presents Egypt as an ordered landscape, easily surveyed and thus, implicitly, controlled. Consider that this photo was taken during a period of increasing European colonial influence in Egypt. The very act of capturing this panoramic view could be interpreted as an assertion of power, reflecting the Western gaze imposed on the East. To fully understand this image, we can consult historical archives, travel literature, and studies of photography's role in colonialism. By examining such resources, we can appreciate how this photograph operates not just as a visual document, but as a cultural artifact embedded in a complex web of social and political relations.