The Orient in large
Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, around 1900, the Léon & Lévy studios sent their photographic operators around the world and in particular to the Mediterranean East. They travelled with their bulky photographic cameras using imposing 16 x 42 cm glass plates. These unusual dimensions allowed them to obtain horizontal and vertical panoramic views of exceptional quality.
Roman ruins, Tuaregs praying in the Sahara, oases, street scenes in Marrakech, Tunis and Cairo, portraits of the Ouled Naïl tribe in Algeria, dahabiehs on the Nile and the Giza pyramid, punctuate this expedition around the Mediterranean basin.
This European view of a distant world was intended for the publication of postcards and photographic albums for a public that was curious about exotic journeys that were difficult to access at this time.
Landscape of the south. Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Prayer in the desert in the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Mehara in the dunes of the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Dunes of the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
The school in an oasis of the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Great prayer in the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Butchers' stalls. Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Dahabiehs, in the trench of El-Gisr (Nile). Port Said (Egypt), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Tribe of Ouled Naïl in the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Tribe of Ouled Naïl in the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Woman of the Ouled Naïl tribe. Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Tuareg population in the Sahara desert (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Arab camp, of a nomadic tribe of the Algerian steppe, in the Sahara desert (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Place and mosque El Halfouine. Tunis (Tunisia), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Medenine (Tunisia), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Neighborhood of the Mosque of Sidi-Mahrez. Tunis (Tunisia), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Place de l'Hôtel de Ville and the Municipality. Sfax (Tunisia), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Jemaa-El-Fna square. Marrakech (Maroc), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Marrakech (Morocco), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Porte des Têtes (The Medina). Oujda (Morocco), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Jemaa-El-Fna square. Marrakech (Maroc), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Oasis in the Sahara desert (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Wadi in an oasis in the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Wadi in an oasis in the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Oasis. Tozeur (Tunisia), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Dahabiehs, in the trench of El-Gisr (Nile). Port Said (Egypt), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Port Said (Egypt), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Large Delta Dam. Alexandria arm (Egypt), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Old Arab cemetery in a palm grove. Egypt, around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
City and citadel. Cairo (Egypt), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Cairo, the Nile and the pyramids of Giza (Egypt), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Market. El Marg (Egypt), around 1900
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Flood landscape. Egypt, around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Pyramids and sphinxes of Giza (Egypt), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
80x31 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
City and port of Tangier (Morocco), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Mosque in a village in the extreme south of the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
30x50 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Sudanese soldiers of the Anglo-Egyptian army. Egypt, around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
The Léon & Lévy studio:
Moyse Léon and Isaac, known as Georges Lévy, began as assistants in the Parisian photographic studio Ferrier-Soulier during the Second Empire. They founded their own studio in 1864 and sold albumen prints, mainly stereoscopic views, under the signature Léon et Lévy "L. L.".
The firm Léon & Lévy participated in the 1867 World's Fair where it won the Emperor's Great Gold Medal. In 1874, the studio Léon et Lévy became J. Lévy et Cie, with Isaac Georges Levy as the sole director of the company from that date on. With the arrival of Georges Levy's two sons, Ernest and Lucien, in 1895, the company expanded and became Lévy & fils, with the works retaining the signature "L. L.".
This photographic firm had an intense activity, publishing prints sold individually, albums compiling travel photographs as well as postcards, all between 1864 and 1917, when they stopped their activities.
The Léon et Lévy collection was bought in 1970 by the Roger-Viollet Agency. Today, these glass plate negatives are archived by the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris and distributed exclusively by the Roger-Viollet Agency.
Holy city of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun (Morocco), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
El Kantara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Carriage chair during a wedding procession. Egypt, around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
70x43 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Basilica of Adrian. Volubilis (Morocco), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
56x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Carthage (Tunisie), autour de 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
56x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Ancient Roman city of Timgad. Aurès region (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
56x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
El Kantara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
63,2x24 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Panorama of the port and the Kasbah. Sousse (Tunisia), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Oran (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Tlemcen (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.
Ouled Naïl tribe in the Sahara (Algeria), around 1900.
Photo Léon & Lévy
38x100 cm print. Limited edition of 30 numbered copies.