Parents bringing their children to the teacher in Talmud Torah Etz Chaim in Jerusalem. A string of א’-ב’ letters as well as calendars can be discerned in the background. Apparently photographed before WWI.
Tzadok Bassan (1882-1956) was the first Jewish photographer born in the Land of Israel and “court photographer” of the Old Yishuv in Jerusalem. For all his photographs, including his outdoor photographs, Bassan used glass plates in his heavy studio camera. From his photographs, it is clear that he attributed great importance to the source of light and sought to allow metaphysical light to penetrate everyday reality.
13×18 cm, photographer Tzadok Bassan’s stamp.