Bois de Dattiers et de Doums, à Hamarneh
1849–50
Medium
Salted paper print from paper negative
Dimensions
Image: 6 3/8 × 8 3/8 in. (16.2 × 21.2 cm) Mount: 12 5/16 × 18 11/16 in. (31.2 × 47.5 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.376.36
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the mid-19th century, French photographer and writer Maxime Du Camp ventured into the heart of the Middle East, capturing some of the earliest photographic images of its landscapes. *Bois de Dattiers et de Doums, à Hamarneh* (1849–50) depicts a serene grove of date palms (dattiers) and doum palms in Hamarneh, likely along the Nile region of Egypt. This salted paper print from a paper negative exemplifies the pioneering calotype process, which allowed for detailed, textured renditions of vast natural scenes, evoking the exotic allure that captivated European audiences during the Orientalist ...
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...