The Visibility of Bedouin Women in the Negev as Reflected in the Private Photographic Collection of Dr Ben Assa

Edna Barromi-Perlman*, Ruth Kark

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article presents a private collection of photographs of Bedouins living in the Negev desert in Southern Israel in the 1950s–1960s: the personal collection of the Dutch-born Benjamin Yehudah Ben Assa (1917–1976), a medical doctor known to the Bedouins as Abu Assa. The study explores the forms of presentation of women in his photographs, mostly while being treated in his clinic during his medical practice. The analysis of the photographs relates to lifestyle and traditions of Bedouin women and the way in which these affected his construction of images. The exploration relates to the forms of visibility of Bedouin women in the public sphere, expanding on traditional practices of photographing Bedouin women in the Middle East in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)25-46
Number of pages22
JournalPhotography and Culture
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2 Jan 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

  • archives
  • Bedouins
  • Israel
  • photographs
  • visibility
  • women

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