Woman in Flowered Dress, Promenade des Anglais, Riviera Possibly 1934 - 1976

Lisette Model made this photograph, 'Woman in Flowered Dress, Promenade des Anglais, Riviera', with a camera, obviously, and what strikes me is the way that she uses light and shade to describe form. It's an image full of contrasts, the woman's large frame against the sharp lines of the bench, the dark umbrella against her patterned dress, the formality of her attire combined with those very modern sneakers. The dress itself becomes an almost abstract field of repeated motifs, interrupted only by the strong vertical of the umbrella. I love the way the pattern distorts and expands over her body, creating a kind of topographical map of her presence. This photograph reminds me of Diane Arbus, who also had a knack for capturing the strange beauty of everyday life. But Model’s work has a particular directness, a kind of unvarnished honesty. In art, as in life, it’s often the things that are left unsaid that speak the loudest.