Accession Number
1980/1.210

Title
Untitled

Artist(s)
Pascal Sebah

Artist Nationality
Turkish (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
circa 1880

Medium & Support
albumen print on paper

Dimensions
14 in x 18 7/8 in (35.56 cm x 47.94 cm);18 3/16 in x 22 3/16 in (46.2 cm x 56.36 cm)

Credit Line
Transfer from the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology

Subject matter
Flat, open desert and a bright, cloudless sky provide the mis-en-scène for this enigmatic, if not ominous, photograph. Life and death are here contrasted, as the stripped skeleton of a camel sprawls across the lower foreground of the image, signaling the perils of desert travel. These remains provide a warning for the living travelers who pass by in the background. Two distinct groups of figures on camelback, a pair on the left and a group of four on the right, have come to a halt at the same instant for reasons which are left ambiguous in the image. 

Physical Description
The skeleton of a camel lies in the foreground of this photograph, while scattered groupings of figures on camelback dot the desert landscape in the background. 

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Camelus dromedarius (species)
Egypt
camels
deserts
men (male humans)
natural landscapes
sand dunes
skeletons (animal components)
travel photography