Egypte

1896 · réf. 14407 — 1896. Underwood & Underwood. Seven stereoviews of Egypt circa 1896 to 1904 record Egyptian people animals commerce Nile water gathering and ancient monuments within the American publisher's extensive photographic survey of the country. The group ranges from women drawing water from the Nile and a crowded market to the obelisk at Heliopolis and statues of Ramesses II pairing contemporary Egyptian life with the Pharaonic sites that figured prominently in Western photographic representations of Egypt. Underwood & Underwood's larger Egypt through the Stereoscope series comprised approximately 100 views produced principally between 1896 and 1904 intended to create a sequential three-dimensional photographic tour of the country. Seven original Underwood & Underwood stereoview photographs Egypt circa 1896 to 1904. Each card bears descriptive text on the verso. The subjects comprise: 1 the obelisk at Heliopolis; 2 a group of Egyptian women drawing water from the Nile; 3 an Egyptian drummer mounted on a camel with palm trees behind him; 4 a mother camel and recently born calf with the pyramids of Giza visible in the background; 5 villagers seated outside a tent captioned by the publisher "Wretchedness of the People"; 6 a large crowd gathered at a local market; and 7 statues of Ramesses II surrounded by palm trees. The views move between archaeological monuments and scenes of work transportation trade domestic life and the Nile while the stereoscopic format was designed to give viewers an illusion of spatial depth when seen through a stereoscope. Underwood & Underwood marketed stereoscopic tours as a means for audiences abroad to encounter distant countries through paired photographs and accompanying explanatory text. Institutional holdings confirm that its Egypt through the Stereoscope photographs date principally from 1896 to 1904 and encompass monuments landscapes city views people and animals. The publisher's caption "Wretchedness of the People" is particularly revealing as historical evidence of the interpretive framework imposed upon Egyptian subjects for Western consumers: rather than a neutral identification of the people pictured the wording directs the viewer toward a judgment about their material circumstances. The seven cards therefore preserve both photographic evidence of Egypt around the turn of the twentieth century and the captions through which Underwood & Underwood presented the country to its international audience. Each photograph retains descriptive text on the verso; all are in very good condition. unknown