Veemarkt te Gezirah, Caïro 1888 - 1895

This photograph, "Veemarkt te Gezirah, Caïro", was captured by Jean Pascal Sébah, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The monochromatic image presents a bustling marketplace scene, a dense field of human figures, animals, and agricultural products under a flat, pale sky. Sébah uses a receding perspective, drawing our eye from the detailed foreground towards a distant treeline. The composition is structured by the repetitive forms of market stalls, which create a rhythm, acting almost as a visual grid. This contrasts with the organic disarray of the goods and the lively interactions of the people. The photograph's tonal range, from the deep shadows to the faded highlights, emphasizes texture and form. As a semiotic system, the photograph’s arrangement of people, animals, and goods communicates a narrative about commerce, labor, and social interaction in Cairo. It evokes questions about how photographic representation constructs and mediates our understanding of culture and place, reflecting both the photographer's perspective and the colonial gaze. The photo invites us to consider how the formal elements create a lasting image.