Untitled (Collaborators, St. Tropez, France) after 1944

This photograph, taken in St. Tropez, France by Constance Stuart Larrabee, uses light and shadow to capture a moment of stark human drama. The tones range from deep blacks to luminous greys. Look closely, and you’ll see how the play of light across the faces and clothing sculpts the figures. There is a strong contrast in the textures, the rough cloth of the mens’ uniforms, the striped dresses and bare heads of the women. What catches my eye is the way the composition directs our gaze, the arrangement of the figures creating a claustrophobic feeling, a visual representation of the tension in the scene. Larrabee was a South African photographer who documented rural Black communities under Apartheid. Her work is defined by the intimacy and respect she demonstrated for her subjects, even when documenting social injustices. She, like many women photographers of her generation, were keen observers of the everyday. In this image, she reveals a complexity of emotions. Art always embraces ambiguity, it does not offer easy answers.