Gouden Poort in Jeruzalem c. 1867 - 1895

Editor: Here we have a fascinating photographic print entitled "Gouden Poort in Jeruzalem" or Golden Gate in Jerusalem by Maison Bonfils, taken sometime between 1867 and 1895. It depicts a massive stone gate; the stark sepia tones give it a feeling of great age, like a scene from antiquity. What captures your attention when you look at this? Curator: Well, aside from the almost tangible weight of history pressing down from those stones? There's a stillness here, isn't there? Like time itself has paused just for this photograph. It's not just a building, it's a threshold, a place where worlds meet – the earthly and the divine, the past and the present. Does it remind you of something you once imagined, perhaps after reading a forgotten poem? Editor: A bit, I think... There is something both imposing and mysterious in this image. Tell me more about what you mean by worlds meeting. Curator: Consider this gate, sealed shut centuries ago, and wreathed in legend! What stories cling to those stones? What prophecies whisper on the wind around it? For some, it represents a day of Judgement. Perhaps its the photographer, Bonfils, himself imagining a glorious event while in this spot. It feels as though the gate itself is exhaling centuries of secrets, doesn't it? Editor: That makes me wonder, what would it have been like to walk through it when it was open? Curator: Ah, now you're thinking like an artist! To feel that transition, to cross that boundary… To breathe the air on the other side. Imagine! It probably felt, to those passing through, like stepping into a dream. Editor: It is really amazing to consider all of those possibilities. Thank you for shining a light on this intriguing work!