ABU SIMBEL. WESTERNMOST COLOSSUS OF THE GREAT TEMPLE
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MAXIME DU CAMP
Genre: Documentary
Date: 1850
Location: Abu Simbel, Egypt
Format: Salt print
“In 1849, Maxime Du Camp (1822-94) was commissioned by the French government, to photograph ancient monuments in Egypt. A journalist with no knowledge of photography, Du Camp took lessons from Gustave Le Gray. By the time he arrived at Abu Simbel in March 1850, Du Camp was confident and proficient, if not inspired, photographer.
Du Camp was accompanied by novelist Gustave Flaubert. After an initial stay in Cairo, the two men hired a boat to take them up the River Nile as far as the second cataract, after which they descended the river at leisure, exploring archeological sites along its banks. For this study of part of the colossal rock-cut temples built by Ramesses II, Du Camp arranged for the face of the statue to be dug out from the sand and instructed one of his assistants to sit on top of the statue to give a sense of scale. Flaubert was unimpressed, remarking: ‘The Egyptian temples bore me profoundly.’
In 1852, Du Camp published a limited-edition book of 200 copies, illustrated with 125 pasted-in salt prints; this was the first photographic record of the ancient monuments of the Muddle-East.” (CH)
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