The photograph was taken in Działoszyce, in the Pińczów County, in 1902 by Władysław Postawka (1883–1932), the owner of the estate in Chruszczyna Mała, near Kazimierza Wielka. Postawka was an amateur photographer who captured the life of his own family, manors, and estates in the Świętokrzyskie region, as well as the surrounding landscapes and architecture. However, above all, he captured the residents of villages and nearby towns belonging to the family.
The man depicted in the photograph, a grain merchant, is a resident of Działoszyce — a town that was a typical shtetel at that time. By the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century the town had the highest percentage of Jews, next to Chmielnik or Kałuszyn, who made up approximately 80% of the population (in 1897 – 76.6%, in 1921 – 83.6%). In the mid-19th century, a brick synagogue was erected, with a cheder, library, mikvah and rabbi's house located in its extension. Działoszyce also had a fairly typical economic profile, with the majority of its residents engaged in crafts and trade. It is known that by the late 1880s, . there were 38 grain merchants in the town, and all branches of trade and industry were dominated by Jews.
The photograph depicts a full-length portrait of a Jewish man in a full-frontal view, in front of a house. The middle-aged man has a long dark beard and is wearing a dark single-breasted coat with pockets, fastened to the left side, high boots, and a black velvet yarmulke. He has a slight smile and his left hand is tucked "beneath his arm". He is standing on a cobblestone sidewalk in front of a residential building. On the left side of the frame, there is a visible fragment of a wooden doorway. On the right, side of the frame, there is a visible fragment of a window embrasure.
