Jérusalem, Enceinte du Temple, Piscine probatique, 1

Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, à Lille|Auguste Salzmann

1854 · Salted paper print from paper negative · Photographs

In this transverse view of an ancient reservoir, new plant life overtakes the rolling topography. Salzmann arrived in Jerusalem New Year’s Day 1854. By day he studied the city; at night he prepared negatives at the Franciscan monastery where he stayed. When six weeks of torrential rain interrupted this work, he dressed, in his words, "like an Eskimo," struggling in the piercing cold to adjust the delicate photographic chemistry in a new environment. After the rain had ceased, he observed that "strange vegetation had started to sprout" all over the city, adding to its otherworldly character.

Artist

Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, à Lille|Auguste Salzmann

Date

1854

Medium

Salted paper print from paper negative

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005