Vue du Temple de Kardassy 1850

Editor: So, this is Maxime Du Camp’s "Vue du Temple de Kardassy," a daguerreotype from 1850, currently at the Met. I’m really struck by the geometry, and starkness of it all, how the ruined structure almost feels… alien. What's your interpretation of this work? Curator: Well, I see a complex interplay of material forces and cultural production at work. Consider the very materiality of the daguerreotype process itself – the silver-plated copper, the chemical reactions… These processes were as much a part of ‘creating’ Egypt as any romanticized view. Editor: How so? Curator: Because this wasn’t just documentation. It was deeply implicated in how Europe ‘possessed’ and consumed Egypt materially. The act of photographing, producing these portable images, was tied to colonial ambitions and the control of resources, wasn’t it? What about the people who built that temple originally? Editor: You mean like, the labor that went into building the temple, versus the labor to create this image of it? Curator: Exactly! Think about the vast disparity. And where did the materials come from for both the temple, and this very photograph? It makes you think about the ethics of representation and extraction, doesn’t it? This is more than a picturesque scene, it's a trace of interconnected exploitation and creation. Editor: That definitely adds another layer to my understanding of it. It’s not just a picture of a ruin, but also evidence of a whole network of production. Curator: Precisely. Examining art through this lens reveals so much about the power dynamics embedded within material culture.