Jerusalem, from the Mount of Olives, No.2 1857

Francis Frith made this photograph of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, using a process called Albumen silver print. Frith's image of Jerusalem, part of a series documenting the Holy Land, presents us with a striking example of 19th-century Orientalism. The photograph emphasizes the city's ancient walls and rugged landscape, reinforcing a sense of timelessness and exoticism, carefully tailored for Western audiences. Consider the institutional context: Frith was a commercial photographer catering to the Victorian era's fascination with distant lands. His work was marketed through galleries and books, shaping perceptions of the Middle East. The documentary style lends an air of authenticity, yet the composition and subject matter are carefully chosen to evoke particular feelings. To truly understand this image, we might delve into travel writing of the period, colonial archives, and studies of early photography. What we discover through historical and institutional research is that art's meaning is always rooted in social context.