American Colony (Jerusalem). Photo Department

Place: Jerusalem

Born: 1881

Death: 1950

Biography:

The American Colony Photo Department was a photographic division of the American Colony, Jerusalem, a Christian utopian society established in 1881 in Jerusalem by Horatio Spafford and his Norwegian wife Anna. The American Colony Photo Department was founded by Elijah Meyers, a member of the American Colony, around 1900. The department was run for more than thirty-seven years in Jerusalem, during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, and on into the British Mandate period. The photographers of the American Colony Photo Department were known for their documentation of places and events in and around Jerusalem, as well as their interest in archaeology. The department was eventually renamed as The Matson Photo Service by G. Eric Matson and his wife Edith, who left Jerusalem amidst rising violence and ran the service in the United States, utilizing many American Colony Photo Department images.