Gezicht op de Venustempel in Baalbek, Libanon 1867 - 1885

Curator: Here we have "Gezicht op de Venustempel in Baalbek, Libanon," a photograph by Félix Bonfils, dating roughly from 1867 to 1885, now residing in the Rijksmuseum. It's an albumen print, typical of photographic practices in that period. Editor: Oh, wow, it looks like something from a dream! A kind of melancholy dream, if that makes sense. The creamy tones give it such a sense of age, and the shadows really make the temple feel both grand and forgotten. Curator: Indeed. Bonfils, with his studio in Beirut, capitalized on the 19th-century Western fascination with the "Orient," producing images that served as both documentation and exotic fantasy for European consumers. The print reveals more than a picture of some temple ruins. It's also a lens into how that culture perceived the world. Editor: You know, I was just going to say… there’s this sort of calculated composition to it all. Even in ruin, it presents an ideal. I mean, that angle! It must have been intentional, not just about accuracy, right? A romantic idea that still speaks powerfully about the West. Curator: Absolutely. He wasn't just pointing and shooting, but rather framing a narrative about timeless grandeur—while also reinforcing a certain power dynamic, in my view. Editor: Hmm. Still, look at the detail, how the light catches the crumbling stone. There is some beautiful light and shade happening! And also… a very poignant beauty. Curator: Orientalism is very problematic as a movement but also produced a great volume of artworks of amazing beauty, and they can co-exist. Bonfils' photographs fed a market hungry for exotic vistas, and in this image, we see that played out so vividly. Editor: Yes, very much agreed, especially in this beautiful landscape! It seems a shame we will only touch a single point in this huge universe of interpretation. It’s like history imprinted onto photographic paper. Fascinating! Curator: Precisely, and perhaps that is why these images still captivate us so effectively. It encapsulates history in its very own creation.