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European photographers set up in the cities and thus you see portraits of the urban population including Europeans who settled in Alexandria and Cairo. European photographers began arriving in Egypt (1845). More followed (1850s). Most photographers working outside the studio at the time worked with glass plates, but they proved difficult to transportbnand on extended voyages and harsh climatic conditions. We only begin to see family images as mostly European photographers began setting up studios. Many of the early portraits seem more ethnographic studies than actual family images. Many urban Egyptian families adopted Western dress. We do not see many portraits of the rural population -- Fellahin. They were the great bulk of the Egyptian population. They were both fully Islamicized and retained many conservative traditional values. We see families that show no sign of change since the days of the medieval Caliphate. Few ever entered a photographic studio, especially with their families. Some of the early European photographers took posed ethnographic photographs for sale in Europe. We begin to get some more family photographs with the appearance of the snapshot and we start toi see Western dress (20th century). Most at first were taken by tourists. And we begin to see more studio portraits, but at first only of the rather modern looking urban population. The countryside and the familes there appear little changed. Interestingly, along with conservative Islamic dress, we see more Egyptian women wearing Western than is the case today with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
We begin to see what may be family images when European photographers began setting up studios in Cario and other cities (1870s). As best we can tell, there was no great interest aming Egyotian men to have portraits of their family taken. The family was seen as a very private matter. At the time, few women could have had a family or individual porttait taken without the permission of their husbands. The earliest portaits we have found look more like ethnographic portaits for sale to Europeans and not portaits that Egyptian men has taken of their families. Here is one such portait. We have no details about the family or even if it is an actual family. The dealer dates it to the 1880s, but we can date it to 1875. We at first thought it was a husband holding a child, but after thinking about it, the cloyhing looks more like a woman's outfit than a man's. We now think it is a houshold slave woman. The mother is probably the woman sitting down. Another possibility is that the husband had two wives. We welcome readers to provide any insights that might have. Notice there are no face coverings. At the time many Egyptian women wore face coverings.
This Egyptian family is unidentified (figure 1). The portrit is also not dated, but looks like the 1920s to us. The portrait was 14x9 cm, roughly 5.5x3.5 in. A father is pictures with his children, two boys and two girls. We do not know where mother was. She may have died. Or he may not have wanted her photographed. The girls wear stylish Western dresses. The boys wear a mix if Western and tradional clyjing. Al three mails wear fezes/tarbooshes. Modern Egyptian girls, especially the older one would not wear such stylish Western dresses.
This large Egyptian family is also unidentified. The portrait is also undated, but looks like the 1920s to us (figure 1). It looks to us like there are six girls, but we are not sure about one of the seated girls. The children all wear Western dress, including the girls approaching puberty. There are Islamic dress codes that apply to children at puberty. Especially notable is the older girl who had has a flapper look and heavy makeup. This is something you would not see today. The older boy wears a sailor outfit with a fez/tarboosh. Also notice the puppy. Dogs are not held in high esteem in Arab society. It is another sign of Western influence.
HBC Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site:
[The 1880s]
[The 1890s]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
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