Gezicht op het Graf van Rachel in Bethlehem c. 1850 - 1865

Curator: Looking at this albumen print from around 1850 to 1865, titled "Gezicht op het Graf van Rachel in Bethlehem," which translates to "View of Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem," I’m immediately struck by the simplicity. It's almost stark. Editor: Stark is the word. It gives off an ancient feel. The tonality is sepia, grainy, very quiet. I feel as if the photographer tried to capture something timeless but... it’s impossible. Curator: Right, because time continues its march and that context always changes what we are able to capture, but Francis Frith, the photographer, really went there. Can you imagine schlepping all that gear in the mid-19th century? To me, this image sits between historical record, romantic impulse and the colonial gaze that always seeks to catalogue. It makes you wonder whose narrative is actually centered here, you know? Is it Rachel's, the landscape’s, Frith's? Or, for that matter, the colonizer looking in? Editor: That's so true. This space, Rachel's Tomb, has immense significance across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I see it now; there’s an imposed layer that demands consideration. A Western gaze framing a deeply complex space. But beyond that, I can still get a feeling, this quiet sadness within it…it’s hard to ignore. There’s some weight to it. I can almost feel what someone might have felt coming upon this monument, especially knowing that, historically, it's also been a gathering place, a refuge…a place for women. Curator: Yes, definitely. This makes me consider the albumen print itself – think of that process. Applying egg white to paper, turning an image into something almost otherworldly... A metaphor for memory? Layers of albumen preserving—or attempting to—what time invariably erodes. I find that idea really touching, actually. Editor: Definitely—a way of not just documenting, but of... feeling. Still, it doesn't escape that layer of power dynamics inherent in these kinds of historical documents. But art invites us to contemplate and consider how power works... Curator: Indeed. It makes one consider our own situatedness in its complex layers. Editor: Well said.