Lot Essay
Maxime Du Camp, a journalist, first travelled to the Orient in 1844-45 and published a written journal of his experiences, Souvenirs et paysages d'Orient, in 1848. His fascination with the Near East persisted and in 1849 he returned to Egypt, accompanied by his friend, the writer Gustave Flaubert. On this occasion he was also accompanied by sufficient photographic equipment and newly-acquired expertise to produce over 200 negatives of the monumental architecture and historic sites which had so inspired French artists and writers since the early 19th century. Before setting off, Du Camp received instruction in photography from Gustave Le Gray and on his return to France a selection of his work was printed and published by Louis-Dsir Blanquart-Evrard of Lille, becoming the first of several extraordinary photographically-illustrated books on the splendours of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Nubia to be published in France. The photographs were accompanied by a descriptive text written by Du Camp. The critical acclaim that this series received came too late to encourage Du Camp to continue a career in photography as he had traded his equipment for embroidered cloth in Beirut and never photographed again. His reputation today, as one of the great early French photographers, rests on this single body of work.