Egyptian postcolonial territory on behalf of royalty: A photographic survey by Fred Boissonnas 1929-1932

Abstract

Although Egypt had been photographed in the tiniest detail since the invention of the medium, the mission undertaken by Fred Boissonnas (1858–1946) in the country in 1929–1930 is exceptional in many regards. In 1929, the Genevan photographer started a final major international project in the service of the Egyptian government that commissioned a photographic work on the country from him. Published in 1932, "l’Egypte" represents one of the culmination points in his photographic and publishing oeuvre. The aim of this article is to question the perspective on the city of Cairo and the entire territory of Egypt carried by these photographic documents. We will also look back at the objectives behind this commission in the context of political transition marked by the end of the British protectorate and the country’s official independence in 1922. The volume "Egypte" and the Boissonnas collection offer an alternative perspective on the history of the medium in Egypt, and on the definition of its space and history through images.