Souâdj, Tombeau de Mouràd-Bey - Entrée de la Mosquée 1851 - 1852

This photograph by Félix Teynard captures the entrance of the Mosque at Souâdj, Tomb of Mourad Bey, sometime in the 1850s. This image, like many early photographs from that era, documents the ways in which the European colonial powers perceived the places they visited. It's telling that Teynard chose to focus on the architecture of the mosque and tomb, rather than the people who used the space. The way he frames the building, with the stark, weathered walls and the shadows cast across the courtyard, presents a romanticized view of a distant and ancient land. Considered as part of the wider visual culture of the French colonial project in Egypt, this photograph reveals the power dynamics at play. To truly understand this photograph, we need to investigate how the institutions of art and science worked together to create a particular vision of the East, one that served the interests of empire.