Egypt's History in the Eye of Photography

How can we show Egypt’s history through photographs?

Photography was invented in 1826 by Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce and appeared in Egypt between 1840-1850, years later, by the French photographer Félix Teynard during his travels in Egypt. Teynard's photographs are notable for documenting various Egyptian monuments and landscapes during that period.

“View From The window At LE Gras, France”, first  photograph ever, taken by FrenchMan Nicéphore,1826.

Abu Simble temple, the first photograph of Egyptian monuments, taken by Félix Teynard between 1840-1860.

One can learn about history by looking at old pictures. For example, a picture of Sultan Hussein Kamel in the 19th century or old Cairo’s pictures.

Why should we show Egypt’s history through photographs?

On the other hand, we can find pictures of Egyptian monuments and street photography since Egypt is home to multiple cultures with different architectures, from the Pharaonic era to the French. 

For example, Tenyard’s pictures where he showed the world Egypt’s pharaonic history even destroyed monuments or reconstructed ones.

People can learn about Egypt’s history without visiting. And photographs prove and show others places they may have never visited before by taking pictures and spreading them. Egypt rebuilt old monuments, and old photographs prove the difference.

We can tell the differences between the times where every photograph was captured by comparing them. Modern photographers use modern photography techniques as people can now see pictures with their original color and with better quality using modern compositions and lighting techniques.

Moreover, photography of the ancient Egyptian civilization has inspired others to recreate the unique architecture. We can find contemporary buildings inspired by the Egyptian Pyramid Typology, for example, The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame built in 1995 in Cleveland, U.S.

DID YOU KNOW? Before inventing photography people used something called Camera Obscura! Camera obscura is a dark chamber containing a small lens that uses daylight to project live images onto a table. It used to show off some of the city’s best landmarks. Later on photography was invented, and it became an art expressed in a visual form where we can share history with the world! This can be done by showing them the old pictures and proving history, or by spreading with the world photos of different places. And that’s how photography is considered a visual form of art.

Written by: Hajar Korachy

Edited by: Marina Khalil

Revised by: Judy Khaled