The Functions of Medical Photographs From Colonial Egypt

Abstract

This article addresses the photograph as a historical source to explore unmapped territories in the histories of medicine and photography in 19th- and early twentieth-century Egypt. It examines the criteria that govern the selection of photographs in scientific and medical publications. Specifically, it asks: what functions did photographs serve in medical publications? Through a juxtaposition of colonial doctors' selection of photographs with that of Arabic scientific periodicals, this article examines some similarities and distinctions between the local and colonial use of medical photographs. On the one hand, similarities show that medical photography in Egypt developed along broader global practices in photography and modern medicine. On the other hand, distinctions offer new insights into the practice of modern medicine in a colonial context. While colonial doctors used these photographs as images of pathology, not only of a disease but also of a people, some local medical practitioners used them as pictures of health and competence.