Cairo Fountain in the Court of the Mosk of Sultan Hassan before 1866

Here is the audio guide script: This photograph of a fountain in the court of the Mosque of Sultan Hassan was made by Francis Bedford in the mid-19th century, as part of a series documenting the Middle East. It appears here in a bound volume of images of the region, with accompanying text. Bedford was one of the most prolific commercial photographers in England, and he was hired to document the region at a time when the British Empire was expanding its influence in the area. Photography was becoming more accessible, and the illustrated book was a popular way of disseminating knowledge of far-off lands to a curious public. The mosque itself was a monument to the Mamluk dynasty, who were of course overthrown by the Ottomans, a regime that Bedford and his audience would have been more familiar with. Careful attention to the format of the book and to its contemporary reception is essential to understanding the cultural work that this photograph was intended to do.