Jérusalem, Porte de Jaffa, extérieur
Felix Bonfils
Description
Subject Matter:
In this photograph, Bonfils juxtaposes the medieval architecture of Jerusalem’s so-called Old City with the hustle and bustle of contemporary daily life. The viewer looks down (as though from a second- or third-story window) onto a dusty street where a crowd of pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages file past a restaurant and market booths just outside the historic Jaffa Gate, one of the eight portals that pierce the sixteenth-century fortifications built during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I. Nestled into a corner where the gatehouse protrudes from the wall, temporary wood and cloth stalls contrast with the heavy solidity of their monochromatic stone backdrop. A restaurant façade fills much of the left side of the picture, complete with shuttered doors and windows, awning, and painted signs that read “A. Fast Restaurateur.” This image is one of hundreds of photographs made throughout Bonfils's career which purport to document various landscapes, cityscapes, and people of the eastern Mediterranean.
Physical Description:
In this photograph, pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages populate the street in front of a two-storied restaurant façade which adjoins a crenellated stone wall in the middle ground.
Usage Rights:
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