Jérusalem, Tombeau des Juges, Détails

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

1854 · Salted paper print from paper negative · Photographs

Beyond this evocative void lie sixty-three rock-cut tombs. The inky interior speaks to the camera’s technological limitations—no reliable flash technology existed yet and Salzmann’s paper negatives were not sensitive enough to be exposed in low light. Visual markers such as the pointed pediment and piles of rocks at the entrance link this eerie image with the preceding one in the album (on view at right), rooting it firmly in the environs of Jerusalem. Salzmann’s strategy of progressing from far to near plate by plate established trust, or "good faith," in his photographs.

Artist

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

Date

1854

Medium

Salted paper print from paper negative

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005