192. Kaire. G.[mr] Ebn Touloun. Mendiants.

A unique piece of social history within this series of details from the Ibn Tulun mosque. There is no evidence of any other photographer choosing, even close to this date, to direct the camera away from subjects of architectural or historical importance towards something as seemingly unimportant as the street beggars of Cairo. Unlike the daguerreotype in lot 31, where the figures seem more typically subordinate to the architecture, there is no doubt they are the subject of this photograph. Although the figure on the right is rather indistinct, one can clearly see that he stands only with the aid of wooden crutches.