Untitled [Ref. #20] 2006

Curator: Up next, we have Myra Greene's "Untitled [Ref. #20]" from 2006. It’s a gelatin-silver print. Editor: Wow, that's intense. The first thing that hits you is this overwhelming sense of claustrophobia—a feeling like you're trapped inside a whisper. Curator: Yes, Greene really hones in on intimacy, almost invasively so, doesn't she? The framing focuses solely on the area around the nose and mouth. It challenges conventional portraiture, pushing us toward something more… visceral. Editor: Absolutely, it's like she's peeling back the layers of polite society and exposing the raw, animalistic aspect of communication. The breath, the unspoken words—it's all right there on the surface, yet obscured. It is hard to really 'see' what is there but what the artist lets you see. Curator: Greene often explores themes of identity and representation through a historical lens, engaging with photographic techniques of the past. The gelatin-silver print gives it that somber tonality, further emphasizing the feeling of an antique or historical document, almost like a police mugshot. Editor: And the blurriness? The loss of clear details makes it simultaneously distant and deeply personal. What do you see in the mouth, what will those words be? Like she’s investigating how we reveal and conceal ourselves, and the narratives we project on each other. The use of this classical method of development heightens that mystery. It's an object of reflection that demands an intense moment. Curator: It absolutely disrupts expectations and forces you into a really unique contemplative moment, an active viewing. Myra Greene is less interested in capturing a likeness and more concerned with prompting introspection. It really questions the language we ascribe to others. Editor: Well, now, looking at it through that lens… I am glad this work exists. Curator: Indeed. The beauty lies in those unanswerable questions, the tensions. It’s about finding power in uncertainty, and it dares you to be part of the narrative.