Category:American Colony Photo Department

English: American Colony (Jerusalem). Photo Dept., photographers: G. Eric and Edith Matson. Photographs were created by the photographers of the American Colony Photo Department, located in Jerusalem. Founded in the late 1890s by Elijah Meyers, the photo agency was headed during its heyday (ca. 1903-1933) by Lewis Larsson, whose staff photographers included Erik Lind, Lars Lind, Furman Baldwin, and G. Eric Matson. It transitioned into the Matson Photo Service around 1934, with photography by Matson, Hanna Safieh, Joseph H. Giries, and others. John D. Whiting contributed periodically to the work of both agencies. For more information see here. Photographs in album are uncaptioned. Captions based on similar images in the G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection. Most of the photographs are hand-colored. Blind stamp in bottom right corner on most photographs: American Colony, Jerusalem. Inscription on first page of album: "To our precious Mother with love from all her children, Christmas, 1919." "Mother" is probably Anna Spafford, leader of the American Colony.