Christmas Day procession in Bethlehem, black and white photograph

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Few holiday scenes carry as much weight as a Christmas Day procession in Bethlehem, the town traditionally identified as Jesus's birthplace. Processions of this kind have long moved through its streets and toward the Church of the Nativity, where Christian pilgrims, clergy and local residents gather for the feast. Shown in black and white, the scene strips away the color of vestments and decorations, leaving the crowd's shape, the dress and the procession's rhythm to carry the mood. Photographs like this one were often valued as records of religious life in the Holy Land at a time when such scenes reached distant readers mostly through images.

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