Médînet-Abou (Thèbes), Constructions Postérieures - Deuxieme Cour - Galerie Nord-Ouest 1851 - 1852

This photograph of Médînet-Abou in Thebes was made by Félix Teynard, a French civil engineer and photographer, using the calotype process. The calotype, an early photographic process using paper coated with silver iodide, gives the image a soft, textured quality, quite different from the sharp precision we associate with modern photography. Look closely, and you can see the fibres of the paper, almost like a drawing. Teynard made his photographs as documents, but the very act of choosing a viewpoint and framing the image, transformed the subject. The rough stone and the deeply carved hieroglyphs on the columns carry the weight of history. Consider the labor involved in producing the original structures, and the skill of the stone carvers. Teynard's photograph, in its own way, is also a product of labor and skill, from the preparation of the calotype negatives to the final print. The photograph isn't just a record; it's a material object in its own right, one that connects us to both the ancient world and the history of photography.