Drie ruiters op de weg van Jaffa naar Wadi Ali, Israël before 1899

This photograph, titled "Three Riders on the Road from Jaffa to Wadi Ali, Israel," was captured by Augusta Victoria, the Empress of Germany. Augusta Victoria's photographic work offers a glimpse into the colonial gaze, reflecting the complex power dynamics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Here, the three figures on horseback are dwarfed by the landscape, perhaps symbolizing the perceived dominance of the West over the Middle East. Augusta Victoria was a figure of immense privilege and power. The photograph is not merely a documentation of a place, but also a statement about presence, authority, and the act of seeing. What does it mean to photograph a land and its people from a position of imperial power? The photograph invites us to consider the ways in which landscapes are not just physical spaces, but also sites of cultural and political contestation.