Gezicht op de tempel van Wady Kardaffy in Nubië, Noord-Afrika before 1858

This photograph of the Temple of Wady Kardaffy in Nubia, North Africa, was taken by Francis Frith. Frith was one of the first British photographers to travel to the Middle East in the 1850s, at a time when British colonialism was expanding. While he aimed to document the region, his work inadvertently participated in the colonial project. He presents an image of a distant land, exoticizing it for European viewers while obscuring its complex social and political realities. The inclusion of a local figure in traditional clothing adds to the orientalist narrative. This man, seemingly at rest, is dwarfed by the ancient architecture. The photograph invites viewers to see the Middle East through a lens of timelessness and otherness, reinforcing stereotypes. Frith’s photograph prompts us to reflect on how photography can both reveal and conceal, shaping perceptions and perpetuating power dynamics.