Désiré Charnay moved from his native France to New Orleans in 1850. Fascinated by the illustrated accounts of ancient Maya cities in books by the explorers John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, Charnay moved to Mexico City in November 1857. Soon after, he established a studio offering views of the city’s streets and monuments, such as this photograph of the early 18th-century church of Santo Domingo. Venturing far from the capital in the following years, Charnay photographed the principal Maya sites in the jungles of the Yucatan, his best-known work.