Bonfils, Felix

About the artist

Name

Bonfils, Felix

Biography

Felix Bonfils was a French photographer who was active in the Middle East. Born in 1831 in Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort, Bonfils worked as a bookbinder until 1860 when he joined General d'Hautpoul's expedition to the Levant to end an outbreak of factional fighting. Upon his return he took up amateur photography but never forgot his love for the Middle East. By 1867 Bonfils had moved with his family to Beirut, where he and his wife opened a photographic studio called 'Maison Bonfils'. Their studio produced thousands of photographs of the Middle East in places such as Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Greece and Constantinople (now Istanbul). He later opened another studio in Alès (France).

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