Jerusalem Camel

by Brian Tada

Title

Jerusalem Camel

Artist

Brian Tada

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph, Painterly Digital Artwork, Canvas Texture Applied

Description

A dromedary camel adorned with a colorful ornate saddle waits patiently for riders on the Mount of Olives overlooking the historic Old City district of Jerusalem, Israel.

I took this travel photo in November 2009 during my family’s Holy Land pilgrimage when my parents celebrated their 50th Anniversary.

From this vantage point, several important sites in the Holy City are visible. To the left of the camel’s nose are the ancient stairs leading up to where the Second Jewish Temple (constructed in c. 521-515 B.C.) had stood before it was destroyed by the Roman army in 70 A.D. Historians believe it is quite possible that the Son of God, Yeshua* Jesus, walked these very stairs visible in the photo.

Proceeding to the right, the twin blue domes in the background are the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is believed to be a possible location where Jesus was crucified and resurrected.

The amber “Dome of the Rock”, an Islamic shrine, was constructed on the Temple Mount, the original site of the Second Jewish Temple which predates the dome by over 1,000 years. The original dome had been damaged by three separate earthquakes: in A.D. 808, again in 846, and a third time in 1015, when the dome collapsed. It was rebuilt in 1022-23. (Source: Wikipedia and others)

The eastern wall of the Old City of Jerusalem, which runs nearly the entire width of this photo, is one of the walls constructed between 1537 and 1541 by order of Sultan Suleiman of the Ottoman Empire. Visible in the wall on the right-hand side of the photo is the famed Eastern (Golden) Gate, which was constructed sometime between 520 and 800s A.D. This is very near the actual site of Yeshua* Jesus’ Triumphal Entry which was prophesied by the Jewish prophet Zechariah (9:9) and fulfilled with immaculate accuracy 400 years later in John 12:12-15. According to prophecy, one day soon the Messiah will supernaturally and literally enter this gate when He returns.

My original photo was taken with a 10 MP video camera in 2009, still frame mode. The image quality and colors were faded, so these were restored using some of the latest digital editing tools in September 2022. Two separate processes, a gentle HDR effect and a painterly effect with a canvas texture, tweaked by hand, were applied to bring out the colors and to enhance the details.

There were five people in my original photo whose backs were turned to the camera as they looked out toward Jerusalem. I did not have the heart to ask them to move, as it was such a reverent moment of awe beholding God’s Holy City. Because my tour group was ready to leave, I took the photo and after many years, with the latest editing technology, decided it was worth the effort and many hours to carefully restore my photo. To do this required having to reconstruct portions of the landscape using two of my other photos of the Jerusalem panorama. A sizeable portion of the safety fence and the rock wall to the right in the foreground were painstakingly reconstructed where the tourists once stood. I also edited out the harness on the camel to give it a “freer” look.

My heart-felt prayer is that you will find this image to be a blessing and perhaps a special memento of your trip to the Holy Land, or at least a way to travel vicariously from the comfort of your armchair. And most importantly, may this image be a reminder to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6-7).

* Yeshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus and honors the Jewish identity of the Son of God. Jesus or Yeshua means “salvation, deliverance”.

*****

Thank you to all who have left such beautiful comments on this image!
Here is one from a fellow artist, Nissim, who lives in Israel:

“Excellent view of the holy Jerusalem and the camel! The capital city of my beloved country Israel.”

Thank you so much, Nissim, for sharing your kind thoughts! Many blessings to you and your beautiful country.


*****

Grateful to God and thankful to the group administrators for kindly featuring this image in the Fine Art America groups:

* 10 PLUS, 09.26.22
* NEW FAA UPLOADS, 09.27.22
* PAINTS AND ART PHOTOGRAPHY, 09.28.22
* FAA GALLERY HOME FOR ALL ARTISTS WHO CREATE, 09.28.22
* HODGE PODGE, 09.29.22
* PRAISING GOD, 10.08.22
* DAILY PROMOTION, 10.09.22
* EMOTIVE ART, 10.17.22
* CAMERA ART, 10.21.22
* JUST PERFECT, 10.30.22
* DAILY PROMOTION, 10.31.22
* NO PLACE LIKE HOME, 11.02.22
* 500 VIEWS SHARE GROUP, 12.28.22

Special Feature:
* CAMERA ART, 10.10.22. Peer-Nominated Special Feature by fellow artists. Thank you so much! God bless you!


*****

Artwork notes:

This unique keepsake is available for purchase as a wall print, poster, greeting cards, wall tapestry, iPhone case and additional options on this page. Order fulfillment is via my printer, Fine Art America, which does an outstanding job in quality and workmanship. Worldwide shipping is available. 30-day money-back guarantee on the purchase price.

Embedded in the top right-hand corner is the Hebrew acronym for "B'ezras Hashem" [ב ס " ד] meaning "with God's help". It is a reminder to me as an artist and photographer of my dependence on the Almighty, the Originator of all creativity. This is a similar acknowledgement used by great artists like Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel who signed their work with the Latin phrase, "Soli Deo gloria" which means, "To God alone be the glory".

Photo copyright © Brian Tada 2022. All rights reserved. To the glory of God. Downloading, photographing, copying, screen capturing, distributing and/or altering this image is prohibited.

As this is part of my livelihood, your purchase would be appreciated to support my continuing work in fine art travel photography. Thank you very much. God bless you.

PropheticPortraits.net

Uploaded

September 25th, 2022

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