Mausoleum of Sitt Zubayda, Baghdad

The photograph was taken by K.A.C. Creswell, a pioneering scholar of medieval Islamic architecture, who sold his collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1921 and 1939. Creswell began photographing architectural sites around 1916, and his work was used in publications such as Henriette Devonshire's 1917 guidebook 'Rambles in Cairo'.

Creswell considered photography essential for documenting physical evidence and took his own photographs, prioritizing their quality. His approach elevated the field of Islamic architectural history, moving beyond mere plan drawings to include detailed photographic records.