Gezicht op ruïnes van bogen voor een berg bij Jericho before 1878

Curator: Here we have a striking albumen print by Félix Bonfils, entitled "Gezicht op ruïnes van bogen voor een berg bij Jericho," or "View of ruins of arches in front of a mountain near Jericho," dating from before 1878. It’s held here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Immediately, I’m struck by the layering in this image. You have the crumbling architecture in the foreground, a soft green space, and then that imposing mountain in the distance. There's an evocative, melancholic air about it, the ruins whisper stories of bygone eras. Curator: Precisely. Bonfils, a key figure in the Orientalist movement, traveled extensively in the Middle East. This photography offers a Western gaze upon the region, feeding a European fascination with the "exotic Orient." Editor: And we can’t ignore that "Western gaze," can we? These images, beautiful as they may be, reinforced existing power dynamics and stereotypes. Who controlled the narrative mattered. It’s a vital question when examining Orientalist works. How did the indigenous population perceive these spaces versus how Bonfils presents them? Curator: That's absolutely right. Bonfils, while likely considering himself an objective observer, inevitably framed his subjects through a colonial lens. His work reveals the political and social context of 19th-century European expansionism, which relied on images that presented foreign lands as places both fascinating and in need of external guidance. Editor: Consider too the choice to focus on ruins. Is there an implicit statement about a civilization’s supposed decline? A subtext that justifies colonial intervention? It’s all very deliberate, isn’t it? Curator: Undoubtedly. However, also understand the materiality, the albumen print gives a richness and depth, a palpable sense of age to the image itself. The light and shadow dance across the stone. And photography, then newly emergent, shaped understanding of geography. Editor: So, even what seems to be mere "documentation" serves a larger purpose. I’ll leave our listeners with this: engage with the seductive beauty, but always, always interrogate the viewpoint. Curator: An excellent perspective. And remember that museums and galleries now grapple to reinterpret the colonial power structures that built collections such as this one.