Author: SÉBAH, Jean Pascal (photographer).
Title: [Raka'ah demonstration].[Late 19th century]. Two albumen prints (each ca. 27 x 21 cm), signed and numbered in the negative. Housed in a clear plastic sleeve.
Description: [2] photographs.Two beautiful photographs by Jean Pascal Sébah (1872-1947), one of the most famous photographers of his time, who specialised in Orientalist photography. He continued the business of his father Pascal Sébah (1823-1886), one of the first photographers working in Egypt. Apart from their photographs of important locations in the Middle East, the Sébahs were known to stage genre scenes, which were used as illustrations in scientific Orientalist publications. The present photographs were likely one of those scenes. They show four Arabic men demonstrating the positions of the raka'ah. The first photographs shows the first and second position, standing and bowing, or qiyam and ruku. The second photographs shows kneeling and the beginning of prostration, or jalsa and sujud.Father and son Sébah rose to prominence because of their well-organized compositions, careful lighting and quality of their prints. The present photographs are indeed beautifully lit and composed, and still in very good condition despite their age. They are wonderful examples of Jean Pascal Sebah's craftmanship.The photographs are slightly creased and discoloured around the edges, but otherwise in very good condition.

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