Previous   Next
Home » CPA0034272

Egypt: 'Egyptian Mummy Seller', Felix Bonfils (1831 - 1885), Cairo, 1875

Egypt: 'Egyptian Mummy Seller', Felix Bonfils (1831 - 1885), Cairo, 1875

Felix Bonfils (8 March 1831 – 1885) was a French photographer and writer who was active in the Middle East.

He was born in Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort and died in Ales. Felix worked as a bookbinder but in 1860 he joined General d'Hautpoul's expedition to the Levant. Soon after returning from Lebanon he became a photographer. The family moved to Beirut in 1867 where they opened a photographic studio called 'Maison Bonfils'.

Maison Bonfils produced thousands of photographs of the Middle East. They photographed posed scenes, dressed up in Middle Eastern regalia, and also stories from the Bible. Bonfils took photographs in Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Greece and Istanbul.