The JPS photographs are in fact simulcra of various Hellenistic, Roman, Egyptian, Arab and Persian architectonic forms created by digitally combining elements of high-resolution photographs I sourced from the United States Library of Congress website. By rooting the project in this particular geographic zone and time period, I aim to underscore the agency of the photographic medium in fabricating a composite image of the Middle East consistent with colonial values and Orientalist distortions.

All images ©Adam Ryder