Orientalist Fashion, Photography, and Fantasies: Baron Max von Oppenheim's Arabian Nights in Context

Abstract

This article discusses Max von Oppenheim's Orientalism as exemplified in his collection of photographs and costumes, in the midst of a growing Orientalist visual culture in turn‐of‐the‐century Europe. Oppenheim is presented as a disseminator of new tastes and desires, anticipating the Orientalist costume parties, fashion shows, and theater productions in 1910s Europe. The development of photography as a medium, increased interest in ethnography among scientists, and rapid advances in fashion photography in particular helped to spread the reach of the Orientalism that Oppenheim pioneered. Tracing the Orientalist visual culture of his time, this paper uncovers how Oppenheim engaged with and perpetuated existing Orientalist fantasies but also diverged from common disseminations thereof. The specific biographical and cultural context of Oppenheim's travels and experiences, specifically in Cairo (1896–1909), creates his specific Orientalism—much more involved, reciprocal/collaborative, and tactile—the character of which will crystallize in the course of the discussion to follow.