Gezicht over de Nahr al-Kalb in Libanon 1898

Johannes Lodewijk Heldring captured this landscape in an undated photograph, entitled 'View over the Nahr al-Kalb in Lebanon'. Heldring, a Dutch artist, would have been part of a long line of European artists who found inspiration in the landscapes of the Middle East. The composition, with its focus on the natural environment, situates the photograph within a tradition of landscape art, but it also hints at the complicated colonial relationships that defined this period. The Nahr al-Kalb, or Dog River, is not just a geographical location, but a site laden with historical significance, having been a pathway for various armies and cultures for millennia. Heldring's gaze across this river invites us to reflect on how the act of viewing and representing a place is always inflected with power, and how the personal and the political inevitably intertwine.