Mary's Well, Nazareth 1920

Karimeh Abbud made this photograph of Mary's Well in Nazareth at a time when photography itself was still quite new and full of possibilities. It's monochromatic of course, sepia-toned, a process of distillation that immediately gives a sense of timelessness. Look closely, and you can see that it’s not just a record, it’s an arrangement. Abbud composes figures around the well, creating a scene. It’s got this interesting mix of the posed and the incidental, like those children off to the left, almost out of the frame. What's amazing is how Abbud manages to convey so much about daily life, about labor and community, within this formal structure. Think of someone like Dorothea Lange; there’s that same kind of attention to the weight and dignity of everyday existence. It makes you wonder what Abbud might have done if she had access to color photography. This photograph feels like a starting point, a foundation for exploring deeper into the human condition.