Fountaine de la Sophie, Constantinople

De Caranza employed the waxed paper negative process, a technique requiring meticulous preparation of paper with wax and chemicals. He formulated his own fixative, which softened contrast and imparted a hazy luminosity to shadowed areas. This method produced images with delicate tonal transitions, enhancing the sense of atmosphere without the harshness of later photographic processes. The result is a quiet, ethereal clarity rather than sharp definition.

The photograph was taken during de Caranza’s travels across Anatolia and the Levant between 1852 and 1855, commissioned as part of a scientific survey of Ottoman infrastructure. His collection remained largely private until later acquired by institutions interested in early photographic documentation of the Near East. This image is among the few surviving examples of his work, valued for its technical innovation and historical record.

In the 1850s, few Westerners had access to firsthand images of Constantinople’s architecture and daily life. De Caranza’s photographs, circulated among European scholars and diplomats, offered a sober, non-romanticized view of the city. His work contrasted with the theatrical Orientalism common in painting, providing instead a documentary perspective grounded in observation and technical precision.

De Caranza’s photographs contributed to the early archive of photographic documentation in the Ottoman Empire. His self-taught mastery of the waxed paper process influenced later practitioners seeking alternatives to the wet collodion method. Though little known today, his images remain important for their technical ingenuity and their unembellished portrayal of a city in transition between empires.