Temple, Egypt c. 1870s

This photograph of a temple in Egypt was taken by Antonio Beato, sometime in the late 19th century. Look closely, and you’ll see that the print has a warm, sepia tone, which comes from the particular chemical process used to make it. This was a period when photography was still a relatively new medium, with practitioners drawing on both scientific knowledge and artistic skill. The act of creating an image like this would have been quite laborious, involving hand-coating paper with light-sensitive emulsions, carefully exposing the plate, and then developing the image through a series of chemical baths. Beyond its aesthetic qualities, this photograph speaks to the broader social context of the time. Beato, like many photographers, operated within a colonial framework, documenting distant lands and cultures for a European audience hungry for exotic imagery. The photograph becomes a kind of artifact itself, imbued with the power dynamics of the era. So, when we consider the photograph, it’s important to remember that materials and processes are never neutral. They carry cultural meaning and reflect the social relations in which art is created.