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The Hypostyle Hall of the Temple of Amon, Karnak

Gustave Le Gray1867

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

Gustave Le Gray was not the first photographer to make images of Egypt's Hypostyle Hall in Karnak--his former student John Beasly Greene was there over a decade before him--but his images are by far the most dramatic. When arranging this photograph, Le Gray waited until a diagonal pattern of light and shadow cut across the center of the composition, receding to the fallen column at the rear. The clarity with which he recorded the hieroglyphics on the temple's forty-five-foot tall columns is a testament to his technical expertise.

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  • Title: The Hypostyle Hall of the Temple of Amon, Karnak
  • Creator: Gustave Le Gray
  • Date Created: 1867
  • Physical Dimensions: 32.4 × 41.6 cm (12 3/4 × 16 3/8 in.)
  • Type: Print
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Albumen silver print
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 95.XM.55
  • Culture: French
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
  • Creator Display Name: Gustave Le Gray (French, 1820 - 1884)
  • Classification: Photographs (Visual Works)
The J. Paul Getty Museum

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