Woman in traditional dress, Jardin d'Essai
Musée Public National des Antiquités
Algiers, Algeria
This photograph, showing an Algerian woman in a garden, illustrates Europe’s fascination with Arab culture.
Cairo: houses and gardens in the French quarter. Flaubert in the foreground
1852
National Library of France
Paris, France
In the later 19th century, photography became a convenient way for travellers to record their progress in foreign lands. This photograph of the French writer Gustave Flaubert is a type of souvenir shot that was popular with European tourists in the region.
British Soldiers Near Selimiye Barracks in Scutari Waiting to be Dispatched to Crimea
1854
Ömer M. Koç Collection
Istanbul, Turkey
The British photographer James Robertson’s photographs of the Crimean War represent important documentation of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th Century. The Crimean War was the first war in history to be extensively covered by press correspondents.
1856-1859
National Museum of Anthropology
Madrid, Spain
Eduardo Álvarez Ardanuy, a captain of the Spanish Army, was a cartographer in Morocco for more than 30 years at the beginning of the 20th century. The photograph, taken during this 30-year period, illustrates Europe’s fascination with Arab culture and also the impact of their presence in the colonial period.
Berber woman (Nailiya) lying down
1856–1858
National Museum of Anthropology
Madrid, Spain
Eduardo Álvarez Ardanuy, a captain of the Spanish Army, was a cartographer in Morocco for more than 30 years at the beginning of the 20th century. The photograph, taken during this 30-year period, illustrates Europe’s fascination with Arab culture and also the impact of their presence in the colonial period.
1857
Ömer M. Koç Collection
Istanbul, Turkey
British photographer James Robertson is said to have been the first to take 360-degree panoramic photographs of Istanbul. The first panoramic image, taken in May 1854 from Beyazıt Tower, headquarters of the Ottoman War Ministry, consists of 12 separate photographs.
c. 1870
National Library of France
Paris, France
The harem held a fascination for many Western artists who travelled in the “Orient”.
c. 1880
MIBACT | National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”
Rome, Italy
The historical photos of Enrico Hillyer Giglioli’s archive were collected with the purpose of propagating diplomatic and commercial relations with Egypt. The “genre” images appear to be created ad hoc, in order to represent human diversities along a historical timeline.
c. 1880
National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”
Rome, Italy
The image appears to show an ordinary Cairene woman. Although apparently an “incidental” shot, pictures like this one were generally staged to evoke a certain atmosphere. Orientalist painters often relied on such photographs to compose their canvases back home.
c. 1881
National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”
Rome, Italy
The lives of “Oriental” women proved irresistible to many European photographers. A most immediate attraction was the bewildering variety in their costume, distinct according to culture, region, social status and stage of life. The attire and headdress of this woman identifies her as a Druze bride from Lebanon.
Photograph: Music School, Syria
1898–1906
National Museum of Anthropology
Madrid, Spain
This photograph was taken by the Keystone View Company, which from 1892 to 1963 produced educational and ethnographic stereographs to satisfy a European interest in other cultures.
Photograph: A Mohammedan Funeral, Egypt
1899
National Museum of Anthropology
Madrid, Spain
This photograph of a Muslim funeral was taken by the Keystone View Company, which from 1892 to 1963 produced educational and ethnographic stereographs to satisfy a European interest in other cultures.
Photograph: Arabic School, Learning the Koran, Egypt
1899
National Museum of Anthropology
Madrid, Spain
This photograph of children learning to read the Qur’an was taken by the Keystone View Company, which from 1892 to 1963 produced educational and ethnographic stereographs to satisfy a European interest in other cultures.
Postcards showing Romanian tourists in Egypt
Beginning of the 20th century
National Museum of Romanian History
Bucharest, Romania
The picture postcard gives a wonderful glimpse of 19th-century European tourists in Egypt. Carefully posed in front of the pyramids, the Romanian travellers are accompanied by local guides as well as donkeys and camels used for transportation.
c. 1913
National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”
Rome, Italy
A major fascination among Europeans was the astonishing diversity and appearance of the peoples they encountered. This assemblage of “types” from Cairo – collected by the Italian zoologist and anthropologist Enrico Hillyer Giglioli during his travels – shows a subject of particular recurring interest: women.