Felix Bonfils Photographs

Panoramic view in 360 degrees of Constantinople, now Istanbul, Turkey, circa 1870. 10 sheets of albumen print, of which five bear the photographer's signature and number.

Panoramic view of Damascus, Syria, circa 1870. 5 sheets of albumen print, all bearing the photographer's signature and number.

Felix Bonfils was a French photographer who began his professional career as a bookbinder and printer, specializing in photoengravings. After visiting Lebanon as part of Napoleon III's expeditionary corps, in 1867 he became the first French photographer to settle in the Near East. With his wife Lydie, Bonfils established a studio, Maison Bonfils, in Beirut, then part of the Ottoman Empire. Known for his interest in architectural photography, Bonfils traveled widely in the Near East. His 1876 catalog is credited with introducing the genre of Near Eastern photographic portraiture.

FSA A1997.03

Bonfils, Félix, 1831-1885

Bonfils, Lydie, 1837-1918

Damascus (Syria)

Istanbul (Turkey)

Constantinople (Turkey)

Turkey -- Istanbul Province -- Constantinople (Istanbul)

Syria -- Damascus -- Damascus

Purchased, May 1997.

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Prints

Panoramas

Photographs

Albumen prints

Felix Bonfils Photographs, FSA A1997.03. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Organized in two flat boxes.

First Box: Panoramas of Constantinople

Second Box: Panoramas of Damascus

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Panoramas

Photographs

Albumen prints -- 1860-1880

Collection is open for research.