Jérusalem, Saint-Sépulcre, Détails de la façade 1854 - 1859

Auguste Salzmann created this photograph, Jérusalem, Saint-Sépulcre, Détails de la façade, using salted paper in the 19th century. Salzmann was commissioned to photograph the Holy Land in an effort that conflated archeology, politics and religion. Salzmann’s still image of Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre captures a moment in time, but it is critical to remember that the region is a site of deep historical, religious, and political contention. The photographer frames our view, choosing what to include and exclude, and he does so from his own cultural context. The image invokes a Western gaze upon a land sacred to many, a gaze often imbued with power dynamics rooted in colonialism and religious biases. How does the act of photographing, of framing, impact our understanding and relationship to such a contested and venerated space? What does it mean to witness a place through the lens of another?