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| Micha Bar Am, Israel.Sinai.the Taba beach. ISRAEL. Taba Beach resort, a tourist sunbathing as a Bedouin woman looks for clients for camel rides. 1982. |
This photo struck me immediately, even as a thumbnail. I liked the contrast of the dark shadows over the woman and her camel against the light color of the ground behind them. I also like the contrast of the two women, one very covered up and one wearing almost nothing, one clothed traditionally while the other is in very modern attire. To me, it represents the struggle of maintaining a traditional way of life against the inexorable encroachment of modernity, and the way the Bedouin woman has managed to balance the two by making a living combining the old and the new.
Quite a lot of contrasts going on in this picture as you point out. It is almost surreal having that barely clad figure in the foreground almost could have been photoshopped in!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this photo, and I agree, it does look like the woman down below is photoshopped in. I also enjoy that you cannot see either of the faces on the women, but you can see what they are wearing. Also, I might be reading too much into it, but the fact that the woman tanning is looking away from the woman traditionally dressed also suggests to me that she is (quite literally) turning her back on tradition.
ReplyDeleteA really interesting photo. I really enjoy photographs with visual contrasts like this. On one hand you have a native Bedouin woman covered from head to toe, and on the other, a tourist barely dressed, seemingly "modern" but who seems the most out of place.
ReplyDeleteThe small animals intrigue me. At first I thought they were dogs, but after closer observation I realized that they are goats (which makes more sense). There are also telephone poles in the background (penetration of the landscape) which (in addition to what has already been said about the Bedouin woman and the tourist) conveys to me a stronger feeling of intrusion by the modern world.
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