Panoramic View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

Born in Berlin, Wilhelm Hammerschmidt was already a professional photographer when he settled in Cairo, Egypt, around 1860. Egypt at that time was the active centre for many European professional photographers. There he established the Hammerschmidt shop, where he sold photographic materials to other early photographers such as Henry Cammas. Hammerschmidt exhibited ten views of Egypt at the Société Française de Photographie in 1861 before becoming a member the following year. He also made costume and ethnographic studies, exhibiting those at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867. Hammerschmidt also made photographs in Syria and Nubia, now Sudan.
Hammerschmidt travelled to Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Nubia. He captured many ethnographic studies exhibiting them at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1867.