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Middle Eastern and North African Views and
Portraits
93.R.72
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Title: Middle Eastern and North African views and portraits
Date (inclusive): circa 1870-circa
1900
Number: 93.R.72
Creator/Collector:
Bonfils
Physical Description:
32 photographic prints
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: This collection of albumen prints dates
from the last quarter of the 19th century and comprises views and portraits from North
Africa and the Middle East, some of which are signed Bonfils.
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Language: Collection material is in French
and English.
Eighteen images are signed Bonfils in the negative, and two others are attibuted to
Bonfils. The Bonfils family operated a photographic studio in Beirut from 1867 to 1918.
Félix Bonfils produced most of the early work; his wife, Lydie, son, Adrien, and various
assistants were responsible for the later work. One image is attributed to Henri Béchard,
who was active in Egypt in the 1870s and 1880s.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
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Middle Eastern and North African views and portraits, circa 1870-circa 1900, The Getty
Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 93.R.72
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa93r72
Acquired in 1993.
Processed and cataloged by Beth Ann Guynn; finding aid encoded by Holly Larson with grant
funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR).
The collection was digitized by the repository and the images are available online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/93r72
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection of albumen prints dates from the last quarter of the 19th century and
comprises three groups of images: eight unmounted photographs; 16 photographs mounted recto
and verso on eight loose blue album leaves; and eight photographs mounted recto and verso on
four loose buff album leaves. Four of the unmounted photographs and 14 of those mounted on
blue leaves are signed Bonfils. These images include studio or otherwise posed portraits of
camel drivers, Bedouin musicians, Egyptian dancers and singers, and a variety of young women
identified as being "mauresque," Egyptian, or Turkish, plus one image of a group of young
girls on a road near Mt. Carmel. Geographic locales include Algeria (a mosque and a
neighborhood vegetable stand); Syria (Baalbek, a palace door); and Rhodes (rue des
Chevaliers).
Images in the group on buff leaves, all unsigned (though two are attributed on the mount to
Bonfils), are from an album compiled by an English couple touring Egypt and vicinity.
Captioned locales include Luxor (Thebes), the pyramids, and Petra, and include the date of
visit. Of particular interest are two images of a man and woman in European dress ascending
and descending the Great Pyramid at Giza with the assistance of many local guides
(attributed on the mount to Béchard).
Arranged in three series: Series I. Photographic prints mounted on blue album leaves;
Series II. Photographic prints mounted on buff album leaves; Series III. Photographic
prints, unmounted.
Pyramids -- Egypt
Africa, North -- Description and travel
Musicians -- Egypt
Women -- Middle East -- Portraits
Middle East -- Description and travel
Ba'labakk (Lebanon)
Albumen prints -- 19th century
Bonfils, Félix,
1831-1885
Béchard,
Henri