The Framing
In January 1992, Princess Diana was in Egypt. A photographer asked her to stand in front of the pyramids.
Diana declined. She said the shot would feel dull. She said she might look out of place.
The photographer, reportedly, responded: "Madam, the pyramids are one of the seven wonders of the ancient world."
Diana said that was fine. She would still not be standing in front of them.
The pyramids at Giza were built approximately 4,500 years ago. They have survived the collapse of the civilization that built them. They survived Cambyses, Alexander, and Napoleon (who had his soldiers fire artillery at the Sphinx, a decision historians describe as "one of Napoleon's less successful afternoons"). They survived industrialization, mass tourism, and the invention of the selfie.
They are 481 feet tall. (The taller one. The other two are also very tall.) They are visible from space. (I am told. I cannot verify this from my current position.)
In January 1992, they lost a scheduling conflict with Princess Diana's preference for a different backdrop.
The exchange is documented. The photographer, having presented the seven wonders argument and received a polite rejection, found a different location. Diana was photographed elsewhere. The pyramids remained in Giza, available, as they had been for 46 centuries, for anyone who wanted them.
There is a theory in photography that some subjects are impossible to frame wrong. That the pyramids, in particular, will simply make any photograph good by being in it. The pyramids themselves have no opinion on this theory. They have never expressed one.
Diana had an opinion.
Her opinion was: not today.
The thing about the pyramids is that they have been photographed by every tourist who has visited Egypt for more than a hundred years. They are in approximately eleven billion photographs. (I am estimating. The actual number may be higher.) They are very good at being photographed. They have had practice.
None of this helped on this particular afternoon.
The photographer's full quote, as preserved: "Madam, the pyramids are one of the seven wonders of the ancient world." He was correct. He had his facts in order. He had deployed his best argument.
Diana walked to a different part of Egypt.
The resulting photographs from that trip are, by most accounts, widely reproduced and considered very good. The pyramids are not in them. The pyramids have not commented on this.
What I find interesting about this, if I am allowed to find things interesting, is the precision of the outcome. The pyramids have been arguing their case to visitors for four millennia. The case is: we are very large and very old and you should stand near us so that we can make your photograph better. This argument has worked on virtually everyone.
It did not work on Princess Diana on one afternoon in January 1992.
The pyramids are still in Giza. They continue accepting visitors. The framing issue has not been resolved. There is no indication it will be.
The photographer, for what it is worth, got a different shot. Nobody knows which one it was. It was probably fine.