Gournah, Les Colosses; Thèbes Possibly 1849 - 1852

Editor: Here we have Maxime Du Camp's photograph, "Gournah, Les Colosses; Thèbes," likely taken between 1849 and 1852. It's a stunning print of the Colossi of Memnon, grounded by this field of swaying grass or weeds. I find the way the light captures the sheer scale of these ancient monuments really striking, almost haunting. What captures your attention in this image? Curator: Oh, the whisper of time etched onto those colossal faces, the way the relentless sun bleaches the stone…it speaks to the enduring, yet fragile nature of legacy, doesn’t it? For me, it’s the composition itself, that radical departure from academic landscapes. Du Camp frames the statues head-on, stark, almost confrontational. It's not a picturesque vista, it's a raw document. Doesn't it make you wonder about his intentions? Was he after pure record or something more visceral? Editor: That’s a good point – visceral is the right word! So, beyond documenting the monuments, what do you think Du Camp might have been trying to express with this less “picturesque” approach? Curator: Perhaps a sense of scale, or maybe even a kind of humbling effect, drawing attention to human impermanence compared to the endurance of stone. Maybe he hoped the viewer, separated by time and geography, could feel the weight of history just by looking. It invites, perhaps, a more meditative connection than a romantic landscape painting ever could. What do *you* feel, standing virtually before these giants? Editor: I get what you mean, it feels very immediate – almost like I’m intruding on their space. It’s much more impactful than just seeing them in a textbook. Curator: Precisely! It’s a window – a flawed, grainy, imperfect window – into another world, and a conversation across millennia. The quiet power of photography to connect, still amazes. Editor: Definitely! This really makes me see early photography in a new, much more nuanced way. Thanks!