Sfinx van Gizeh 1888 - 1895

Jean Pascal Sébah captured this photograph of the Sphinx of Giza, a monument that has silently witnessed centuries of shifting powers and cultural interpretations. Born to a Syrian father and an Armenian mother, Sébah straddled multiple worlds. His work emerged during a time when the West's fascination with the "Orient" was growing, and photography became a tool for constructing and disseminating images of distant lands. This photograph, like many from that era, existed within a complex framework of colonialism, orientalism, and the burgeoning tourism industry. What stories does the Sphinx hold? Its enigmatic gaze, weathered by time, has seen pharaohs rise and fall, empires expand and crumble. In this image, we are invited to contemplate not only the grandeur of the monument itself, but also the layers of history, power dynamics, and cultural exchange that have shaped its perception. The figures surrounding the Sphinx, dwarfed by its scale, remind us of our own fleeting presence in the face of enduring history.