Félix Bonfils

Félix Bonfils, self-portrait

Paul Félix Bonfils (born March 8, 1831 in Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort , † April 9, 1885 in Alès ) was a French bookbinder and photographer who worked in the Middle East.

Live and act

Maison Bonfils, Young Woman from Nablus, probably second half of the 19th century

Maison Bonfils, Jews at the so-called Western Wall, probably second half of the 19th century

Maison Bonfils, mummy dealer, probably second half of the 19th century

The Huguenot and trained bookbinder Félix Bonfils spent some time in the Middle East as early as 1860. When his son Adrien (1861–1929) fell ill, Bonfils - who had meanwhile turned to photography - returned to Lebanon . It was here in Beirut in 1864 that he opened the region's first professional photo studio. In the following years he made a name for himself through his close look at the ancient sites and landscapes, but also the population, especially in the Middle East. Bonfils published his recordings in large-format volumes, including a. 1872 with the album Souvenirs d'Orient .

Family and succession

Félix Bonfils was supported in his photographic work by his wife Marie Lydie (1837–1918), who came from the Cabanis family of photographers, and by his son Adrien (1861–1929). The “Maison Bonfils” continued to work after Félix's death - partly with old photos, partly with new photos by various photographers inside and outside the family.

In retrospect, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate who exactly made the individual recordings. Basically, it seems that Félix Bonfils concentrated on historical places and landscapes. His wife Lydie probably specialized in portraits of people, especially portraits of women. Adrien turned to rather pious motives. Around 1900 selected photos of the “Maison Bonfils” appeared as colored photochromic prints by the Swiss company Photochrom Zurich .

literature

• Bonfils, Félix, Architecture Antique. Egypte, Grèce, Asie Mineure. Album de photographies, 1872
• Bonfils, Félix, Souvenirs d'Orient, 1878
• Nir, Isaiah, The Bible and the Image. The History of Photography in The Holy Land 1839–1899, Philadelphia 1985
• Haller, Douglas M. et al. a. (Arr.), In Arab Lands. The Bonfils Collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, Cairo 2000
• Wieczorek, Alfried / Sui, Claude, W. (eds.), In the Holy Land. Pilgrimage sites from Jerusalem to Mecca and Medina. Photographs from the 19th century from the collection of the Forum Internationale Photographie of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen Mannheim, catalog, 23 July to 5 November 2006, Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen Mannheim, Heidelberg 2006

Image selection of the "Maison Bonfils"

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  Maison Bonfils, Jaffa, probably second half of the 19th century

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  Maison Bonfils, Jerusalem, rock in the so-called Dome of the Rock, probably second half of the 19th century

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  Maison Bonfils, Jerusalem, the so-called pond of Ezekiel, probably second half of the 19th century

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  Maison Bonfils, In the ruined city of Baalbek, probably second half of the 19th century

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  Maison Bonfils, Syrian Bedouin shepherd, probably second half of the 19th century

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  Maison Bonfils, person portrait, probably second half of the 19th century

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  Maison Bonfils, Women from Siloam, probably second half of the 19th century

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  Maison Bonfils, girl from Bethlehem, probably around the turn of the century

Web links

Commons : Félix Bonfils  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Vita of Félix Bonfils on "luminous-lint.com"
• Library of Congress Bonfils recordings
• Bonfils recordings from the Greifswald Gustaf Dalman collection
• Expert article on Bonfils in historical Palestine photography

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See example pages from the album Souvenirs d'Orient http://www.artnet.com/artists/felix-bonfils/souvenirs-dorient-palestine-album-w113-works-sIzCehkirWtiL3NCO9ai0g2
2. ↑ See Chemali, Yasmine, The Good Woman named Bonfils
3. ↑ See examples of the portraits ascribed to Adrien Bonfils