Early Morning at Wady Kardassy, Nubia
1857
Medium
Albumen print, pl. 39 from the album "Egypt and Palestine, Volume II" (1858/60)
Dimensions
Image/paper: 22.5 × 15.8 cm (8 7/8 × 6 1/4 in.); Album page: 42.7 × 29.8 cm (16 13/16 × 11 3/4 in.)
Classification
albumen silver print
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
158006
Art Historical Context
Step into the tranquil dawn of Nubia with Francis Frith's *Early Morning at Wadyassy, Nubia* (1857), anen silver print that transports viewers to the rugged valleys of ancient Egypt's southern frontier. Captured during Frith's groundbreaking expeditions, this image (plate 39 from *Egypt and Palestine, Volume II*, 1858/60) evokes the soft, golden light of sunrise illuminating dramatic landscapes, a testament to the photographer's eye for atmosphere and detail. Frith, a pioneering British photographer, ventured into Egypt multiple times in the 1850s, hauling bulky cameras and chemicals across d...
About the Artist
Francis Frith · 1822–1898
Francis Frith (1822–1898) was born on 7 October 1822 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, into a prosperous Quaker merchant family as the second child and only son of Francis Frith Sr. and Alice Walker. Educated at Quaker schools including Ackworth and Camp Hill in Birmingham from around 1828 to 1838, he apprenticed in the cutlery trade before establishing himself as a wholesale grocer in Liverpool, suppl...