The "drawing" of the neighborhood girls - رسم بنات الحارة

These are more amazing photos I found in the "photo archive box" of E.S., {see previous entry here} , shot in a studio in Zahlé, thought I'd share...

The text in Arabic says: 

"Dear Joseph, 

Here I send you an 'imprint' (or a 'drawing') of the girls of the Harra (small closed neighborhood) with the dearest René" ; dated 1947 and mentioning the names of the 4 women.

it seems as if the sender is actually presenting studio shot portraits of young women eligible to marry for the bachelor to "have a look". 


Some of the women, appear in this other photo (with no text or date), wonder if the 2nd photo was sent to another bachelor after Joseph answered whom he would like to meet (and mary?), also a younger girl is introduced to the group, maybe she just turned to that age when she is "eligible to marry", she does look younger than 18, maybe a 16 year old? 
whom would you pick gentlemen to be with you for the rest of your life, ...based on a photo?


Social media, referral and communication at its beginning. Lovely! (or not).

All-Blue tinted Laundry - Ashrafieh Streets

Traditional Beiruty home, with green plants very well taken care of and very neatly hanged laundry on the front porch...(now about why they are all blue, I've made a hundred stories in my head: a superhero lives there, this is part of his costume, it's a magical tint that her grandma told her keeps the underwear fresh and soft for her man, there are dark ones and light ones, she hangs them approximately from older to newer? or next week, if i pass the street again, will it be all green tint?...) ; while contemplating... that's gonna soon be replaced with all-polished towers with curtain glass balconies were no sun reaches the ground floor, but thankfully you can hear the drying machine. That's evolution.