Jérusalem, Enceinte du Temple, Côté Ouest, Heit-el-Morharby 1854 - 1859

Auguste Salzmann made this salt print, titled "Jérusalem, Enceinte du Temple, Côté Ouest, Heit-el-Morharby," with paper negatives. Salzmann’s photographs of Jerusalem, made in the mid-1850s, were commissioned as part of a French project to authenticate biblical history through photographic documentation. This image of the Western Wall, a remnant of the Second Temple, is laden with cultural and religious significance. The photograph underscores a tension between scientific objectivity and the political agendas of 19th-century European powers, who were increasingly interested in archaeological and ethnographic studies of the Middle East. Salzmann’s work reflects the way photography was deployed to support religious and political claims about the region. By studying period documents, travelogues, and the histories of institutions like the French Academy, we can better understand the complex social forces that shaped the production and reception of images like this. Art, after all, is always contingent on its social and institutional context.