Khan Orthma also known by Khan Murjan, Bagdad

Creswell personally took and developed his photographs, prioritizing clarity and technical precision. He avoided dramatic lighting or compositional flourish, instead framing buildings with neutral perspective to document proportions, materials, and decay. This method distinguished his work from earlier illustrative traditions, establishing photography as a scientific tool for architectural study in Islamic contexts.

The photograph entered the V&A’s collection through Creswell’s direct sale, likely sourced from fieldwork conducted for his scholarly publications. Some images overlap with those published in Henriette Devonshire’s 1917 travel guide, but the bulk were gathered during his dedicated research trips. His meticulous record-keeping ensured provenance, making the collection a trusted archive for later scholars.

Before Creswell, Islamic architecture was often studied through speculative reconstructions. He introduced empirical documentation, insisting that physical evidence—captured through photography—must precede interpretation. His work coincided with rising interest in preserving Islamic heritage amid colonial and modernizing pressures, giving his images added historical weight as records of structures under threat.

Creswell’s photographic archive remains a foundational resource for the study of medieval Islamic architecture. His insistence on photographic accuracy influenced generations of scholars and institutions. Many of the buildings he documented have since been damaged or demolished, making his images among the most reliable visual records of their original condition.