Interior view of dome of Mausoleum of Sitt Zubayda

Creswell took the photograph himself, emphasizing clarity and structural accuracy over aesthetic flourish. The composition is frontal and centered, minimizing distortion to document the dome’s vaulting and tilework. His use of high-contrast black-and-white film enhanced the legibility of architectural forms, aligning with his belief that photography must serve as rigorous visual evidence, not artistic interpretation.

The photograph was taken during Creswell’s fieldwork in the 1920s and 1930s, likely for his scholarly publications on Islamic architecture. It entered the V&A’s collection through direct acquisition from Creswell, who donated or sold hundreds of prints to institutional archives. Some images in the collection were previously published in Henriette Devonshire’s 1917 guide to Cairo, but most were taken later for his academic research.

Creswell’s work emerged at a time when Islamic architecture was often misrepresented or reduced to speculative reconstructions. He insisted on direct observation and photographic record as the foundation of scholarship. His documentation spanned regions from Syria to Tunisia, capturing structures before urban change, neglect, or restoration altered their original state — making his archive a critical baseline for later study.

Creswell’s photographic archive remains a primary resource for historians of Islamic architecture. His insistence on precise, unembellished documentation set a new standard for the field. Many of the buildings he photographed no longer exist in their original form, rendering his images indispensable for understanding the evolution and material history of medieval Islamic monuments.