Hoed van zwart fluweelvilt c. 1950 - 1960

Curator: This is "Hoed van zwart fluweelvilt," or "Hat of Black Velvet Felt," a photograph dating from approximately 1950 to 1960, by the artist Simons. What strikes you initially? Editor: A study in form. Starkly minimal, with its nearly monochromatic palette, I feel drawn into the texture, the subtle gradations of light across the velvet. It feels very…quiet. Curator: Absolutely. If we look closely at the photographic composition, we can see a tension between the softness of the velvet and the geometric shape. Note how the artist uses lighting to sculpt the hat, emphasizing its form. It flattens and almost abstracts the subject, in a Modernist style. Editor: And isn’t that shape telling? We read it as merely an object, yes, but it’s inherently tied to the body—to the head, specifically. Its removal prompts reflection: Who wore it? What was her position within society, that she could afford to present this symbolic covering? The quiet is perhaps the suppression of her narratives. Curator: I appreciate your insight, though I’m hesitant to over-interpret from a single object. However, I do think it successfully abstracts the subject through flattening, almost architectural curves and angles. There is a certain solidity to the dark space that pulls you in and the light that bounces off the curves. It transforms it into an entity beyond mere "hatness." Editor: And that transformation is fascinating when viewed through a gendered lens! Throughout modern history, a Black woman’s choice of head covering—whether embracing or rejecting conventional styles or social dictates—has had the potential to defy stereotypes or to become complicit with it. Here, however, the image presents us with a loaded, rather disembodied object… perhaps we are being dared to make up a Black woman’s narrative of style, choice, and identity. Curator: It presents a powerful and ambiguous arrangement of light and form, a minimalist expression, even when taken out of its assumed narrative. Editor: Ultimately, it leaves you considering who is written out of history when portraits are just a hat floating in space.