A Mohmand Grass Cutter

Mela Ram was a photographer who might have warmly welcomed the advent of the real-photograph as a way for his art to take precedence over the vagaries of publishing in collotype or halftone using hand-tinted color to enhance images (there are few colorized postcards from his studio). This seems to be the evidence from works like this. Not only do the old woman and child establish themselves as characters, the sickle in her hand catching the light does too. And in the boys hand, the sickle curves up towards his mouth and seems to be touching his teeth. Mela Ram's composition manages to pull the characters towards the tool that they spent their life with, heightening our appreciation of their labor.