Le Kaire, Cimetière des Mamelouks 1851 - 1852

Editor: This photograph, "Le Kaire, Cimetiere des Mamelouks," taken by Félix Teynard between 1851 and 1852, is a gelatin-silver print depicting a cityscape dominated by a stone mausoleum. I’m struck by the almost brutal simplicity of the architecture; what can you tell me about it? Curator: Well, considering Teynard's photographic practice and the production of this image as a commodity for European consumption is important. The gelatin-silver print is itself a complex industrial product, think of the mines to obtain the silver. This process flattens the original site. Do you think the photographer was critical of this kind of manufacturing of images and Orientalist consumption? Editor: That's interesting. I hadn’t really considered it as a manufactured image so to speak, just a record. Is the choice of presenting this almost desolate cityscape also some sort of statement? Curator: Precisely! Teynard's meticulous documentation, evident in the use of this durable and reproducible process, brings the "exotic" within easy reach of a Western audience. But the image itself is staged through careful photographic staging; where do you think those building stones came from, who made them and how was labour involved in constructing that building we see? Editor: So, by choosing to focus on the materials and labor behind this scene, we start to question the power dynamics involved. The focus shifts from simply viewing a beautiful, 'oriental' scene, to considering the hands and resources that made its depiction – and perhaps even its existence – possible. Curator: Exactly! It asks us to reconsider what we’re consuming when we look at this photograph. This isn't just a scenic view; it's a carefully constructed product. We can think about it as a historical artifact with so much social construction within its own materiality. Editor: That’s a completely different perspective than I had coming into this. I’m now aware of its cultural value.