A Palestinian family celebrating Christmas 1936

Karimeh Abbud took this photograph of a Palestinian family celebrating Christmas sometime in the first half of the twentieth century. It’s black and white with different shades of grey and the composition is a posed group photograph with the Christmas tree to the side. I’m imagining Abbud, behind her camera, directing all those children, making sure everyone is in place and in focus. I can’t help but wonder what it might have been like to be her, a pioneering female photographer in Palestine at that time. I wonder if this photo suggests anything about her wider artistic interests, and how that might have related to other photographers working at that time. Photography is a medium of documentation, but there is something really beautiful about this particular photograph. Abbud has captured a very real, intimate moment. Looking at this picture I think she really wanted to show that Christmas is a time for everyone, no matter where they are from.