Fred Boissonnas in Egypt, Benaki Museum, 138 Pireos St., March 22–May 20, 2018

The Swiss photographer Frédéric (Fred) Boissonnas (1858‒1946) was invited to Egypt in 1929 by King Fuad I to gather photographic material for a major book commission, the lavish book Égypte, published in Geneva in 1932. Travelling with his compatriot publisher and author Paul Trembley, he toured the country for eleven months creating images that referenced Egypt’s long history as well as its identity as a newly-founded state.

In May 1933 Fred Boissonnas returned to Egypt on what would be his final photographic campaign. He visited anew the Sinai peninsula and Saint Catherine’s Monastery following the route of the Israelites as it is recorded in the biblical ‘Exodus’. The images he produced in this trip and his extensive handwritten notes were to provide material for another publication, similar to Égypte, provisionally titled Au Sinaï. Despite Boissonnas’s efforts, the book was never published.

Fred Boissonnas in Egypt focuses on the photographic work for both books, visually exploring the complex histories of the newly formed state (following Britain’s unilateral declaration of Egyptian independence) and the photographer’s own search for inspiration in the deserts of Sinai.