2-746-020 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Thebes, The Colossi of Memnon, 1870s. As more photographers shot the same monuments,depictions became formulaic.Numerous photographers produced almost identical images,as demonstrated in these two views of the Colossi of Memnon. Shot from different sides but about the same distance, both images employ an angled view and use Egyptian servants and guides as local colour and indexes of scale. Captions and artists’ signatures were often written in reverse on the negatives so that they would automatically become part of each print. Sometimes, as in the Beato image, the artist or his assistant was care less.