Tombeau du Sultan El-Goury, au Kaire 1849 - 1850

This photograph, "Tombeau du Sultan El-Goury, au Kaire," was made by Maxime Du Camp in the mid-19th century, using the salted paper process. The salted paper print, an early photographic technique, involves coating paper with a silver nitrate solution, making it sensitive to light. When exposed, the paper darkens, creating a sepia-toned image. The resulting print possesses a soft, textured quality, as we see here. Du Camp's choice of this process is significant, as photography was still a relatively new medium at the time. The handcrafted nature of salted paper prints aligns it more closely with traditional art forms like drawing and painting, than with industrial production. Each print is unique, bearing the mark of the artist's hand in its preparation and development. In this way, photography in its early days reflects the traditional craft processes that were soon to be displaced by new technologies, raising questions of labor, politics, and consumption that continue to resonate today.