Jérusalem, Porte de Jaffa, Intérieur

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

1854 · Salted paper print from paper negative · Photographs

Viewed at random, Salzmann’s 174 photographs of Jerusalem appear to vacillate between expansive landscapes and tightly cropped studies. When read in sequence, however, they reveal a systematic visual language. In a manner derived from architectural illustrations, Salzmann begins with a general view of a site and its immediate topography. He then moves closer and closer to a given structure until only a fragment appears in the frame. Multiple angles of a monument provide a sense of the edifice in the round, as with his serial study of the Jaffa Gate. Beginning with views from the interior (as seen here) and exterior, the series concludes with a shadowed inscription beneath the gate’s arch.

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