JO Magazine

Jean Brunet: “I’M NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER, in fact, to begin with, the photographs were taken for recording purposes, to catalogue and examine the stones and to help in writing reports. It was only when the architect in charge noticed that they had an artistic quality that we thought about exhibiting.”

Words by John Lillywhite.

 

“I’M NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER,” explains Jean Brunet, the stonemason employed by the French Institute of the Near East to work on renovating part of the Temple of Zeus at Jerash. “In fact, to begin with, the photographs were taken for recording purposes, to catalogue and examine the stones and to help in writing reports. It was only when the architect in charge noticed that they had an artistic quality that we thought about exhibiting.”

The resulting photo exhibit, Jerash, dans l’ombre du Temple, which was recently on display at the French Cultural Center, took a behind-the-scenes look at the south structures of the higher Temple of Zeus’s sanctuary, in a style that was more photo-reportage than an artistic exhibition as such.

Brunet began training as a stonemason after going to university in Lower Normandy, France. He became interested in stone through his uncle, who was a sculptor, and began his apprenticeship under a local master, working in the nearby cathedral and castle.

“It’s really a very nice job,” Brunet muses, “but because in Jordan there are no qualifications in stonemasonry and renovation, no one wants to do it. Experts are called in from Egypt or, when things get really complicated, from America or Syria.” Brunet explains that stonemasonry is more associated with urban cultures rather than Bedouin ones, and that Amman is still a young city.

It’s for this reason the stonemason is currently working in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism and the Department of Antiquities to begin a training qualification in stonemasonry and restoration, both for Jordan and the region as a whole.

It seems likely that supply will meet demand. As Brunet puts it: “There are stones everywhere!” He also makes the point that Jordanians do care abut their patrimony. “Although everyone in Jordan wants a new house, they do try to take care of the Old City, and not just their antiquities … for example in Jebel Weibdeh or First Circle.”

Even those not of a historical bent may find something interesting in Brunet’s photographs. They aim to provide a sense of “the human element” behind the restoration, with the strongest of the nine panels contrasting the everyday activities of the renovation team with the epic structures surrounding them.

“The work on the south side [of the temple] was very special,” Brunet said. “The wall was falling down and had become dangerous, so we had to use a crane and dismantle maybe 200 stones. Our aim is to give people not ruins, but something they can understand. … But we don’t make changes; rather, we revive what has been before.”

Brunet seems to have an intuitive understanding that ancient sites don’t really breathe until the history or stories that surround them are given some kind of context. At the center of his work lies a pleasing question: The Temple of Zeus was erected in 163 CE. Who else has prayed, or laughed or worked in its shadow?