Standbeeld van Ferdinand de Lesseps bij het Suezkanaal in Port Said 1894 - 1910

This photo of the Statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps at the Suez Canal in Port Said was taken by C. & G. Zangaki. The sepia tone gives the whole image a hazy, romantic, old-timey quality. It feels like it has emerged slowly, gradually through the chemicals and processes of photography. It makes me think about who Zangaki was, what was it like to be them, standing with their camera, trying to capture this particular moment. It is almost like a painting in itself. The statue is so stoic, so permanent. The statue is captured in the moment of pointing, and gesturing towards the canal. I can feel a sense of forward momentum, of progress and the building of the canal. The light is coming from the front of the statue, casting a subtle shadow behind. I can see a family on the beach, bathing in the sea, right next to the monument, giving a sense of everyday life going on around this historic moment. It makes me wonder what the statue would have seen over the years, the changing world around it.