Objects

The photograph was taken by Juliusz Dutkiewicz in his photographic studio in Kołomyia in the 1870s or 1880s . Little is known about the author. He operated his studio successively in Suceava (Polish: Suczawa), Ivano-Frankivsk (Polish: Stanisławów), Lviv (Polish: Lwów), and Kołomyia, engaging in both indoor and outdoor photography. Some of his most renowned works include photographs documenting the landscapes and people of Hucul Region and Pokuttya (Polish: Pokucie). Dutkiewicz featured photographs of folk types from these areas, alongside landscapes of the Chornohora (Polish: Czarnohora), at the 1880 "Ethnographic Exhibition of Pokuttya" in Kołomyia.

The photograph is a portrait of two religious Jews in prayer clothes against a screen on which classical-style architectural motifs (including a column) were painted . The men are standing on a patterned carpet; the one on the left side of the frame is facing the lens of the camera frontally, while the one on the right is facing the camera with his left side. Both have long beards and are dressed in long, black gaberdines (Yiddish: kapote) and high boots. They are wearing tallitot on their heads and shoulders, which are prayer shawls sewn from white fabric with dark stripes, from which – in accordance with the Biblical injunction – tied tassels (tzitziot) hang. Tefillim (phylacteries) were placed on their left forearms and foreheads. Prayer books (siddurim) are held in their hands. The attire depicted in the photograph is worn by every devout Jew, particularly during morning prayers (Hebrew: shaharit) at home or in the synagogue.