ollection of Photographs by Photographer Zechariah Kottler – Album for the Solel Boneh Company and Photographs of ...

ollection of Photographs by Photographer Zechariah Kottler – Album for the Solel Boneh Company and Photographs of Palestine, 1920s – Three Photographs Signed by Kottler
68 photographs in an album of the Solel Boneh Company and 21 assorted photographs by photographer Zechariah Kottler. Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheva, Tiberias and elsewhere, [ca. 1920s].
1. "Solel Boneh", album with 68 photographs documenting the construction of historical buildings, road construction and manual labor in the 1920s in Palestine. The photographs show, among other things: the construction of the National Library on Mount Scopus; the construction of the Arza sanatorium near Jerusalem; paving of Herzl Street in Tel Aviv; paving of Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv; construction of the Bialik House in Tel Aviv; paving of the Nes Ziona-Rehovot highway; workers at the Dror cooperative carpentry workshop in Tel Aviv; the power plant in Haifa; the power plant in Tiberias; construction of the "big hut" in Degania Alef; the military cemetery in Beersheva; as well as quarries, engineering machines, workers and more. On the first pages are photographs of three diagrams drawn by hand. Attached to the binding is a card with a photomontage – structures cut out to form the Hebrew words "Solel Boneh".
2. 21 photographs of sites and figures in Palestine, including: the Old City in Jerusalem; the Tomb of Absalom; interior of Rachel's Tomb; Caesarea; portraits of Jews of various ethnic extractions; and more.
All the photographs are signed in the plate: "Z. Kottler Press, Jerusalem". Nineteen of the assorted photographs are mounted on cardboard boards, with an additional (identical) stamp. In addition, three of the assorted photographs are signed in the hand of Zechariah Kottler, on the cardboard boards (in pencil).
Guy Raz writes about Zechariah Kottler in his book "The Photographers of Palestine" (Mapa, 2003): "Zechariah Kottler was active in Jerusalem, as attested by the stamp that appears on his pictures. In the years 1921-1924 he was the photographer of the Solel Boneh Company. Kottler's works appear in an album published by the company, most are 15X10 cm in brown / blue / black hues. These works display the photographer's professional and aesthetic use of light".
Total of 89 photographs. Photo size: approx. 11X16 cm (some are smaller). Condition varies. Good-fair overall condition. Blemishes and light stains to some. Tiny holes to a number of photographs. Album: approx. 24.5X33 cm. Stains and minor blemishes to leaves. The binding has been professionally restored (new spine). Rubbing, stains and blemishes to the binding's original parts. Holes and minor blemishes to cardboard boards.
Provenance: Rimon Family Collection.