Inwoners van Umm Qais, Jordanië 1898

Johannes Lodewijk Heldring created this photograph, “Inwoners van Umm Qais, Jordanië”, in an unknown year. Its sepia tones give it a quality of both immediacy and distance. The composition is divided horizontally, with the light sky contrasting against the densely packed figures below. The structure reveals Heldring’s interest in the relationship between the individual and the group. The arrangement of the subjects, some standing, some seated, creates a layered effect. This layering might be interpreted through a semiotic lens. The people in the foreground, more shadowed and textured, seem to ground the image, while those behind, lighter in tone, almost blend into the backdrop. Heldring captures a moment that suggests a complex dynamic between visibility and concealment. The photograph invites us to reflect on how we perceive cultural identity through visual representation, challenging the idea of a fixed or singular meaning.