Man met een paard aan de oever van de Jordaan c. 1867 - 1895

Maison Bonfils created this albumen print of a man with a horse on the banks of the Jordan River. What might seem like a straightforward landscape scene gains complexity when we consider the history of photography at the time. Western photographers flocked to the Middle East in the 19th century, often framing their images to reflect colonialist attitudes. This photograph, with its seemingly casual depiction of a local man and his horse, participates in that history. The photograph invites the Western gaze, turning the local population into objects of curiosity. Note also the composition, how the landscape seems to dwarf the man, perhaps symbolizing the perceived dominance of nature over the local inhabitants. To truly understand this photograph, we need to look at the broader context: the rise of photography as a tool for documentation and control, the dynamics of Orientalism, and the history of the Bonfils family and their photographic enterprise in the Middle East. These resources allow us to see beyond the surface and understand the photograph as a product of specific cultural and historical forces.