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 men depicted in the photograph, grain merchants, are residents 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 two middle-aged Jewish men standing in front of a house. The bearded man on the left, in a full-frontal view, is wearing a thick, dark double-breasted coat (bekishe) with pockets, and high boots. He is held by a slightly shorter man, captured from the left three-quarter view. He is also dressed in a long, dark double-breasted coat (bekishe) with pockets and high boots. He has a long, slightly greying beard and a black velvet (?) hat. In his left hand, he is holding a wooden cane. The outer garments of both men are fastened to the left side. They are standing on a round straw doormat on a cobbled sidewalk, in front of a single-wing wooden entrance door (with a three-pane transom window) to a residential building.