Nis in de Sultan Hassan-Moskee te Caïro 1869 - 1889

This photograph of a niche in the Sultan Hassan-Mosque in Cairo was taken by Henri Béchard sometime before 1899, using a process that was already considered old-fashioned. While photography was rapidly industrializing, Béchard used a hand-applied coating of light-sensitive emulsion on glass, the same method used since the 1850s. The final print is an albumen silver print, made using egg whites to bind the silver particles to the paper. The warm, sepia tones of the print, the fine detail, and the long tonal range from light to dark, are characteristic of this process. A photograph like this involved considerable labor. Beyond the skilled darkroom work, there was the sheer physical effort of transporting bulky equipment to this location, and the patience of capturing a moment in time. The level of attention evident in the photograph—the interplay of light and shadow, the geometry of the architectural details—elevates it beyond mere documentation. It stands as a carefully crafted and composed work of art.