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Women grinding corn in Sinai
War Office Topographical Department - Enlarge image
Women grinding corn in Sinai
- Object:
Photograph
- Place of origin:
Sinai (peninsula), Egypt (photographed)
- Date:
1869 (photographed)
- Artist/Maker:
War Office Topographical Department (publisher)
Royal Engineers (photographers) - Materials and Techniques:
Albumen stereoscopic print
- Museum number:
E.1334-1992
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level H, case X, shelf 546
Object Type
A stereograph is a pair of photographic images of the same subject taken from slightly different angles. This gives the illusion of a single three-dimensional image when viewed through a stereoscope designed to hold it.
Ownership & Use
Stereographs were mass produced. Viewing them was a popular amusement carried out in the home from the 1850s until the early 20th century.
Subjects Depicted
Many of the most popular subjects of stereographs were of topographical views or of scenes unfamiliar to the western audience for whom they were generally produced. This group of Islamic women from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula is shown grinding corn. Their faces are hidden by veils. The veil turns away the gaze while at the same time attracting it. The secrecy of the veil prompted fascination for what was often seen as the mysterious and exotic world of the East or the 'Orient' to 19th-century western viewers. In contrast, the men in the background confront the camera.
