Gezicht op Naqsh-e Rustam in Iran before 1885

Jane Dieulafoy made this print of Naqsh-e Rustam in Iran. It's a photographic reproduction, and it speaks volumes about the relationship between photography and archaeology. Look closely, and you’ll see the enormous amount of labor involved in the original carvings. These are tombs of Achaemenid kings, cut directly into the cliff face. The scale is truly monumental, and it speaks to the power and resources commanded by these rulers. Dieulafoy's photograph flattens that, ironically, and turns it into a commodity - something that can be consumed as an image. The photograph itself is a product of its time, a moment when European powers were keenly interested in documenting and, in some ways, possessing the cultural heritage of the Middle East. Photography enabled that, making these distant places accessible to a wider audience. But it also raises questions about who gets to tell these stories, and how the labor of the past is represented in the present.