Albumin print, Zangaki, Port Said, Quai Francois Joseph, Diamond Jubilee, 1897

This historical photograph shows a bustling, detailed, and culturally historically fascinating view of the Quai François Joseph in the harbor of Port Said in Egypt, taken as an original albumin print mounted on cardboard. The albumin process used was the dominant photochemical technique of that era, in which egg white was used to bind the light-sensitive silver salts to the paper, giving the photographs their characteristic warm sepia tone, a soft glossy surface, and high detail sharpness. Masterfully composed in landscape format, the motif documents a solemnly decorated monument with a stele in the center, erected on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Meanwhile, the left section of the image shows the harbor basin with a large steamship, and the foreground features locals at work and at a fountain. On the right side of the harbor promenade, the representative commercial buildings of prominent international companies line up, including the telegraph station of "The Eastern Telegraph Anglais" in the front area, followed by the branch of the world-famous travel agency "Thos Cook & Son", and the building of the "Henry S King Reading Rooms", above which the company sign of the "Bank of Egypt - Limited" is emblazoned.

At the bottom margin of the cardboard, there is a later handwritten pencil note reading "Port Said, Hafen - Brunnen mit Steele Queen Victoria 1887, Pof. Zangaki", whereby the author obviously confused the Diamond Jubilee of 1897 with the Golden Jubilee of 1887 that took death ten years prior. The authorship is undisputedly attributed to the Greek Zangaki Brothers due to the original signature in the photo negative, who created an outstanding document of colonial daily life here. The antique collector's item features the photograph dimensions of 27 x 20,8 cm mounted on a 37,2 x 28,8 cm original cardboard backing and is in good age-appropriate condition with a slight toning. The bottom margin features the original white caption within the photo negative: "Zangaki - Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in Port Said."