Gezicht op de Hemelvaartskerk before 1878

Félix Bonfils produced this albumen print of the Church of the Ascension in Jerusalem in the late 19th century, a time when photography was rapidly evolving and shaping perceptions of the world. Bonfils, a Frenchman working in the Levant, catered to a growing European interest in the Holy Land. His photographs weren't just documents; they were carefully composed images that evoked a sense of the exotic, reinforcing existing cultural narratives. The very act of photographing and disseminating these images speaks to the colonial gaze of the period, with Europeans visually 'possessing' and consuming distant lands. Consider how the choice of subject matter, framing, and even the sepia tone contribute to a particular vision of the Middle East. To understand Bonfils' work fully, we can look into the archives of photographic studios, travel literature, and colonial records. These sources reveal the complex interplay between art, commerce, and cultural power that defined the era.