Albumin print, general view Oran, Algeria, Santa Cruz Chapel, ND Phot, late 19th century

This historical photograph shows a wide panoramic general view of the Algerian port city of Oran, taken as an original albumin print. 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. From the elevated perspective of the historic hill of Fort Santa Cruz, the entire bay with the harbor of Oran as well as the dense urban architecture spreads out in the background. In the immediate foreground of the image composition, the photograph documents the prominent chapel Notre-Dame de Santa Cruz, which is considered a significant religious and historical landmark of the region.

The authorship is undisputedly attributed to the renowned French publishing house Neurdein Frères under the well-known brand ND Phot due to the original text in the photo negative, who were famous for their qualitatively outstanding documentation series in North Africa. This print was produced in the late 19th century, during the heyday of topographic travel photography. From a historical perspective, this original albumin photo is of high value as it preserves the historical cityscape of Oran prior to the major modern architectural changes of the 20th century as an authentic visual primary document.

The historical collector's item is available as a loose sheet, features the original dimensions of 27,3 x 21 cm, is in good age-appropriate condition with slight toning, shows small light creases at the edges and corners, and features the serial number and the original white text "305 Oran – Vue Générale prise de Santa-Cruz" within the negative along the bottom margin.