Gebouw van de harem van de sultan van Zanzibar c. 1900 - 1920

This evocative image of the Sultan of Zanzibar’s harem was made by the Coutinho Brothers, though the exact date remains a mystery. What strikes me first is the almost ghostly quality of the architecture. There’s something about the play of light and shadow that makes the buildings seem almost ethereal, as if they might dissolve into the air at any moment. The photograph is a study in contrasts: the solid, geometric forms of the buildings against the hazy, undefined sky; the intricate latticework of the balconies against the smooth, blank walls. This contrast reminds me of the way we often perceive the world – a constant negotiation between clarity and ambiguity, between what we know and what remains hidden. Look at the way the light catches on the edge of that balcony on the left. It’s just a tiny detail, but it’s these little moments of clarity that bring the whole image into focus. It reminds me a little of some of the architectural studies of someone like Thomas Demand, in the way that the photograph constructs a reality, which is also in some ways a fiction.