[Pyramid at Dahshûr]

Art Historical Context

Step into the sun-baked sands of ancient Egypt with Francis Frith's *Pyramid at Dahshû* (ca. 1857), a captivating albumen silver print that one of the world's oldest pyramids. British photographer Francis Frith, a pioneer of travel photography, ventured into Egypt's remote deserts during the 1850s, creating some of the first detailed images of sites like Dahshur—home to the iconic Bent Pyramid built by Pharaoh Sneferu around 2600 BCE. This modest 15.4 x 20.8 cm photograph transports viewers back to a time when such monuments were mysteries to most Westerners. Frith's use of the albumen silver...

About the Artist

Francis Frith|Francis Frith and Company · 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...