Abu Simbel, Sculptures at the Entrance of Spéos de Phré

The setting of this image is the ancient temple complex of Abu Simbel, cut into solid rock cliffs north of the present-day Egyptian and Sudanese border. Rather than trying to take in its enormity, Maxime Du Camp directed his camera to the figure of the Egyptian sun god Amun, carved in relief directly above the main doorway. This frontal view yields a documentary clarity, and Du Camp’s assistant stood at the lower left to provide a sense of scale. The temple was in disrepair and forgotten by the 6th century, then rediscovered, largely buried under sand, in the early 19th century. Trained initially as a journalist, Du Camp kept extensive diaries of his adventures to supplement his images. He also traveled with the French writer Gustave Flaubert, and elements of their time together provided inspiration for fictional stories Flaubert published.