Dimensions: image: 290 x 190 mm
Copyright: © Akram Zaatari, courtesy Hashem el Madani and Arab Image Foundation, Beirut | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Akram Zaatari presents us with "Anonymous. UNRWA school, South Lebanon, 1960s" by Hashem el Madani, a black and white photograph capturing a young woman holding a baby. Editor: It's so direct, almost confrontational. The lighting is stark, and everyone seems to be staring right through you. What's up with that? Curator: Madani's photography often documented everyday life in Lebanon, particularly within the context of the UNRWA schools that served Palestinian refugees. This image speaks to the experience of displacement and resilience. The woman's gaze seems laden with history. Editor: Right, like she's carrying generations of stories in those eyes. There is a gravity here—and also tenderness. The way she's holding the baby, you know? It’s precious, yet fragile. Curator: And consider the title, "Anonymous." This highlights the systematic erasure of individual identities within the broader narrative of displacement and statelessness. We must remember the political implications of anonymity and collective memory. Editor: That makes sense. Looking at it again, I feel a weight. It's a document, but also a ghost story. Curator: Precisely. Through Zaatari’s presentation of Madani's image, we are invited to contemplate themes of identity, history, and the power of the photographic archive. Editor: I will be thinking about those eyes for a long time. It’s one of those images that keeps on giving.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/zaatari-anonymous-unrwa-school-south-lebanon-1960s-hashem-el-madani-p79409
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This work is one of a series of black and white silver gelatin photographs of varying sizes that are collectively titled Objects of study/The archive of studio Shehrazade/Hashem el Madani/Studio Practices. All of the photographs were taken by the Lebanese commercial photographer Hashem el Madani between 1948 and 1982 and compiled into the present group, 117 of which are in Tate’s collection, by the Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari. All of the photographs include people, either alone, in pairs or in small groups, and most were taken in Madani’s studio, although some were shot outside and in his subjects’ homes. The series features men and women and covers a wide age range from babies to elderly people. Almost all of the sitters assume poses deliberately for the camera, sometimes accompanied by props or costumes, and most gaze directly towards the lens. Many of the pictures show subjects interacting in various ways, including embracing, kissing and acting out scenes, such as a mock wrestling match. The photographs are mostly tightly cropped, with the sitter or sitters filling most of the frame, although in some cases the figures are positioned further away from the camera, for instance when shown sitting at a table or standing behind a chair. The photographs tend to have sparse backgrounds, often dominated by a blank posterior wall. They are mounted on white paper, displayed in plain white frames and signed on the back by Madani. Many of them have been organised into categories by Zaatari – such as a group featuring men dressed as Syrian resistance fighters and a collection depicting newly married couples – while the rest are presented individually. Zaatari has stated that although he prefers these groups to be displayed together, this is not a requirement (Akram Zaatari, email to Rachel Taylor, 24 April 2008, Tate Acquisition file).
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