Visually compelling and intellectually sophisticated, Mapping Sitting: On Portraiture and Photography, A Project by Walid Raad and Akram Zaatari presented a wealth of photographic materials from the collection of the Beirut-based Arab Image Foundation (AIF). Embracing current theoretical approaches to the display of visual culture, the exhibition, curated by two artists, offered a richly textured and highly nuanced picture of Arab photography and its relationship to questions of identity. If the history of photography from this region is as little studied as the artist-curators assert, then their show certainly constitutes an exciting opening gambit that should inspire further study. Walid Raad, the New York–based Lebanese artist widely known for work done under the name the Atlas Group, and Akram Zaatari, a Beirut-based video artist, filmmaker, and curator, collaborated on the exhibition. Zaatari is a co-founder of AIF; Raad sits on its board. Founded in Beirut in 1996 to “interpret Arab identity” and study its often-overlooked visual culture, the foundation maintains an archive of seventy thousand photographic works, most of which are commercial photographs, although there is a substantial number of amateur snapshots as well. The fifth exhibition of materials drawn from these extensive holdings, Mapping Sitting presents itself as equal...