In the 1870s, Cairo’s streets were filled with shopkeepers, street vendors, dancers, and laborers. Egypt was changing fast — economically, politically, and socially. One photographer working in the middle of it all was Émile Béchard, who documented Egyptian life from 1869 to 1880.
Béchard focused his camera on the everyday people of Cairo. His portraits captured merchants, craftsmen, and street figures who made up the fabric of city life. His work reflects an orientalist perspective — a Western fascination with Eastern cultures that was common among European photographers of the era.
For years, historians thought two separate photographers — Émile and “Henri” Béchard — had worked in Egypt. Recent research shows Émile used the second name to separate different series of his work, such as portraits versus architectural photographs.
Émile had a brother named Hippolyte Béchard, who helped sell and distribute the photographs in France. This allowed Europeans to see Egyptian life up close without ever leaving home.
Egypt’s economy in this period was shifting from agriculture to raw material exports. Cotton became a major export to Europe, while manufactured European goods flooded Egyptian markets. This hurt local craftsmen. Trades like textile-making and glassblowing nearly disappeared, while basketry and pottery managed to survive.
Urban guilds that once protected local artisans declined and eventually vanished as European merchants took over trade and production. The traditional middle class — including religious scholars and established merchants — lost much of their wealth and status during this shift.
Many rural peasants lost their land to debt and moved to cities searching for work. By the turn of the 20th century, Egypt’s population reached about 10 million, with around 2 million living in urban areas. Cities like Alexandria grew into major commercial hubs, and new towns like Port Said rose along the Suez Canal.
A working class formed in these cities, made up largely of transport and construction workers, along with those employed in sugar refineries and cotton ginning mills. Many others had no fixed employment at all.
A new professional middle class also emerged — civil servants, lawyers, teachers, and technicians who shaped the growing urban Egypt. At the same time, a ruling elite of large landowners held political and economic power.
Béchard’s photographs sit at the center of all this history. Each image shows the clothing, expressions, and routines of real people living through a major turning point in their country’s story.
