Palestine in History via Artefacts

Mount of Olives, Jerusalem

‘From the late 18th century onwards, the idea of travelling through the “wild” landscape for its own beauty began to take hold in Western culture and was reflected in art in what became known as the “picturesque” style.

An attitude to landscape that began with painters and poets was soon transferred to the earliest photographers. With the picturesque style, the evidence of human life – people and buildings – became less important to composition. Instead, the wider landscape was invested with emotional and even spiritual significance. Nowhere was this more true than in Palestine, where photographers turned away from the rapidly growing cities and towns of the 1870s and 1880s to focus on scenes such as these of the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane, where many Christians believe the Transfiguration of Christ took place.

Garden of Gethsemane

For a pioneer of photography like Bonfils, these landscapes would have been easier than crowded street scenes for another reason. The method he used, though the latest technology in its time, would still have required a lengthy exposure time by our modern standards, ruling out spontaneous images. As a binding agent on the paper, Bonfils used albumen, or eggwhite, which he and his family prepared themselves. Indeed, long after her husband’s death in 1885, Felix Bonfils’ wife Lydie forbade eggs at her breakfast table, saying that she “never want(ed) to smell another egg again”.’ (MM)