Drômos et Philônes, Grand Temple d'Isis à Pilônes; Nubie, plate 72 from the album "Egypte, Nubie, Palestine et Syrie" (1852)

Art Historical Context

In the mid-19th century, photographer and writer Maxime Du Camp ventured into Egypt and Nubia, capturing some of the earliest photographic records of ancient wonders. This salted paper print, titled *Drômos et Philnes, Grand Temple dis à Pilônes; Nubie*, depicts the grand dromos (processional avenue and towering pylons of the Temple of Isis at Philae a sacred Nubian site dedicated to the goddess of magic and motherhood. Taken during Du Camp's 1849–51 expedition alongside Gustave Flaubert, it forms plate 72 of his landmark album *Egypte, Nubie, Palestine et Syrie* (1852), blending travelogue and visual archive. Salted paper prints, a pioneering technique invented by William Henry Fox Talbot, involved sensitizing paper with salt and silver nitrate to create soft, matte-toned positives from paper negatives. At just 17.3 × 22.3 cm, this intimate image exemplifies early photography's role in preserving architecture threatened by time and sand. Du Camp's work, printed in 1852, introduced European audiences to Nubia's majestic ruins with unprecedented detail, fueling Egyptomania and scholarly interest in classical antiquity. Today, housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Photography and Media department, this print bridges art and archaeology, inviting us to trace the temple's colossal gateways and imagine ancient pilgrims approaching Isis's sanctuary.

About the Artist

Maxime Du Camp · 1822–present

Maxime Du Camp (1822–1894) was a pioneering French photographer and writer whose adventurous spirit and technical innovation bridged literature and visual art during the mid-19th century. Born in Paris on February 8, 1822, to a prosperous family—his father a successful surgeon—Du Camp received a solid bourgeois education at the Collège Bourbon (now Lycée Condorcet), where he cultivated interests i...