Sujet

The Pyramids of Saqqara, from the Northeast, 1858. Creator: Francis Frith (British, 1822-1898); William Mackenzie.

Légende

The Pyramids of Saqqara, from the Northeast, 1858. Frith was the first photographer in Egypt to successfully use the wet collodion process, introduced in 1851. Its glass plate negatives yielded sharper, more detailed images than paper ones. He even created mammoth plate prints, as this size is called, which required equally large glass plate negatives. Pursuing the process?s exacting chemistry in Egypt?s scorching sunlight was trying. Frith sometimes sought refuge in tombs for the cool air and darkness to process his plates. "Pushing myself backwards upon my hands and knees, into a damp slimy rock-tomb . . . I prepared my pictures by candlelight in one of the interior chambers. . . . The floor was covered . . . with an impalpable ill flavored dust, which rose in clouds as we moved; from the roof were suspended groups of fetid bats."

Crédit

Photo12/Heritage Images/Heritage Art

Notre référence

HRM19G14_242

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

Licence

Droits gérés

Format disponible

62,4Mo (4,3Mo) / 44,1cm x 35,4cm / 5212 x 4182 (300dpi)

Mots clés

Britannique photographie 19e siècle William Mackenzie photograph The Cleveland Museum of Art Heritage Art albumen print from wet collodion negative albumen print from wet collodion negative William Mackenzie Francis Frith (British 1822-1898) Francis Frith 1822-1898