[Waterfall, Constantine] 1856

John Beasly Greene made this photograph, Waterfall, Constantine, sometime in the 1850s. Greene was among a wave of French photographers who turned their lenses on North Africa, particularly Algeria, not long after France colonized it. The image of the falls at Constantine, in Algeria, creates meaning through both its visual grandeur and its historical associations. During the 1850s, the French state, along with various commercial and scientific organizations, were keen to take stock of their new territory. Photography, still in its early stages, became the perfect medium for these surveys. The image might appear to be simply a neutral record, yet we must remember that it was made within a very specific power dynamic. What does it mean for a French photographer to capture this landscape in Algeria? Understanding this image fully requires examining colonial archives, travel accounts, and early photography journals. The meaning of this art is contingent on its social and institutional context.