Beyond the Facade: Maxime Du Camp's Photographs of Egypt
Open Access
- Author:
- Izzo, Whitney Allison
- Graduate Program:
- Art History
- Degree:
- Master of Arts
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- None
- Committee Members:
- Nancy Elizabeth Locke, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Nancy Elizabeth Locke, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Brian A Curran, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- Egypt
Orientalism
Maxime Du Camp
imperialism
colonialism
France
photography - Abstract:
- The photographs of Egypt from Maxime Du Camp’s photographic book Egypt, Nubie, Palestine et Syrie (1852) are at once a reminder of the West’s storied, and often sordid, history of colonialism and treatment of the “Other,” and also of France’s very specific imperial relationship with Egypt. From written works and popular media to visual imagery, Du Camp’s images are part of an established Orientalist vocabulary. More importantly, however, Du Camp’s photographs continue to reference France’s language of dominance laid out by Napoleon in his 1798 invasion and scientific expedition into Egypt. Rather than focusing specifically on the physical conquests of colonization—as is commonly the case when examining Western Orientalism—I will discuss Du Camp’s work with an emphasis on its relation to cultural hegemony. Just as relevant as physically occupying and dominating the “Other,” cultural colonization connects Western superiority with controlling and establishing structures of knowledge. In comparing Du Camp’s images with Francis Frith’s photographs of Egypt and Napoleon’s Description de l’Egypte, I will demonstrate the relation of Du Camp’s photographs to France’s attempt to present itself as an imperial power. This ultimately exposes the complexities of cultural exchange that underlie the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized.