Les Étudiants d’El-Azhur (Universite Arabe)

While most historical accounts of early photography in the Middle East focus on images created by tourists, many local photographic firms were established as early as the 1850s. Local photographers who were Armenian or Greek Christians ran most of these studios. There were very few Muslim and Jewish photographers in Egypt and the Levant during this period due to religious taboos surrounding image making. One well-known photographic firm was run by Abdullah Frères, a group of three Armenian brothers working first in Istanbul, and later in Cairo. This photograph shows students congregating in a courtyard of Al-Azhar University, the oldest university in Egypt and a prestigious Sunni Islamic institution.